Bellamy after the Mountain
by PoplarGirl
Summary: Canon-verse immediately after series 2. With new Radio signals from Ark survivors detected it's a race against time to find them before the snow falls. Danger lurks everywhere. Bellamy is haunted by his demons. Octavia is keeping secrets from him. When Grounders threaten the people he loves he needs to warn Clarke, but first he has to find her and convince to come home.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Bellamy turned and watched Clarke walk back to the tree line alone. Fool, he thought. Damn stubborn fool. He had no idea why she had to be so hard on herself, but right now he was too tired and beat up to stop her. The Mountain had nearly killed him, both physically and spiritually. He, at least, badly needed that drink and to sleep. Tomorrow would have to take care of itself, and so would Clarke.

The light was already failing as he sunk down onto the piece of twisted metal debris that was serving as a campfire seat. Octavia's face beamed at him in the dancing firelight as she handed him a cup of moonshine and a bowl of stew.

"It's good to be home." She sighed resting her head on his shoulder.

He knew she wasn't referring to the camp, but to the people who's tired faces surrounded him. The last of the 100. His people. Clarke's people. His eyes were scanning the dark shadows beyond the fence before he realized it, he yanked them back to the flames of the warm fire and shivered. Damn damn fool!

Sunlight burned red against his eyelids and he rolled to escape the light, but a gust of icy air hitting his back finally robbed him of sleep. Wick stood at the tent flap silhouetted against the rising sun.

"Bellamy wake up! You have to come listen to this." His voice was both urgent and excited.

Bellamy shot him daggers with his eyes. "This had better be important Wick."

"It's the radio. Now that Mount Weather isn't jamming us any more we can hear them. We can hear them all." Wick raised his eyebrows and bounced on his toes, but it took the groggy Bellamy too long to piece together what he meant.

"Other Ark ships, they made it. They are out there. We are not alone!" With that Wick could contain his excitement no longer and turned letting the tent flap fall into place as he left.

Bellamy lay back on his sleeping pallet with his arms folded behind his head staring up at the canvas ceiling. He didn't know what to think, or how to feel. Was he happy? Logically he should be, but he was also wary about what this meant for him. Before the Ark landed he was top dog. A position that ended up being a necessary burden. One he had shouldered willingly with Clarke. But she was gone now. When the Ark landed his fall from power had been swift and brutal. He'd barely escaped with his life. He was nothing and then she had made her way back to camp and suddenly he was relevant again. Her right arm. He'd done what he had to rescue his people, their people. He'd do it all again, all of it, to get them out of that Mountain alive.

He rolled onto his side, hugging himself as he thought about the people who didn't make it. The ones who had died while he was there, powerless. He remembered Octavia with a gun to her head. Yes, he thought angrily, I'd do it again. I'd do it sooner. He sat up and raked his fingers through his tangled hair. Would she have stayed, he thought, if I'd just pulled that damn lever for her, before she had to. All of the Mountain People against Octavia's life had been a no brainer for him. But it had broken Clarke, and he hadn't even noticed till she said goodbye. He should have been paying more attention.

The large crowd around the radio tent chattered noisily. But as he neared them he could tell that they knew very little about what was happening inside. He prepared to shove his way physically through the crowd, but it parted to let him through. The Arkers looked at him in a way he wasn't entirely comfortable with. He ducked his head and entered, as he did Kane, Wick and Monty turned to face him. He was a little surprised to see both Octavia and Lincoln in the room, when so many others were left outside. They just looked at him expectantly.

"what's going on?" He asked, as if he didn't already know.

The spell seemed to break and Kane approached him and then turned, arm extended, as if to draw him into their inner circle.

"We started picking up signals as soon as the power went down at the mountain." Kane informed him matter of factly.

Wick chimed in, "I guess the backup generator didn't cover the antenna. Those things require a lot of juice, especially one with their range."

"How far are we talking?" Bellamy asked raising his eyebrow.

"Everything in line of sight, which from the top of that mountain was hundreds of miles in either direction." Wick gestured towards a map on the side of the tent.

A large circle had been drawn on the map and three X's had been placed. They formed a roughly straight line moving away from their camp.

"How many other survivors are there?" Bellamy asked, still uneasy about the way everyone seemed to be briefing him. What was going on?

Kane turned to him again, worry etched on to his tired face. "We don't know," he admitted. "Two of the signals we are receiving are automated repeater beacons. But at least that means the ships made it down softly enough not to destroy the equipment. They may just not be able to transmit a message for some reason. The third is definitely manned. We can hear them, but they can not hear us. It's hard to tell how many survivors there are, we know they have been attacked and we suspect they don't want to give away their numbers for fear of who else might be listening."

Everyone paused as if waiting for Bellamy to speak, but he had no idea what they wanted from him. "What's the plan?" He asked to fill the silence.

Kane looked at him and half smiled. "That is what we need to decide. Look Bellamy," he said arms open, "I know we got off to a bad start. I'm well aware of what an arrogant fool I was. You have been leading down here longer than anyone and you've kept our people alive. I'd be an even greater fool if I didn't seek your counsel now. "

Bellamy blinked. Stumped. His eyes searched for his sister who was beaming with pride. One hand nonchalantly holding onto Lincoln's. Lincoln and he had not spoken since the under-gate of the mountain. Lincoln caught his gaze and lowered his eyes to the ground. Tightening his grip on Octavia.

The tent flap shifted once more and a guard Bellamy recognised as Miller's dad entered the tent. He turned to Kane. "I couldn't find her. No one has seen her since last night sir."

Bellamy knew who they were talking about instantly. Surely he wasn't the only one she'd said goodbye to.

"Clarke is gone. " His voice croaked with emotion he wasn't aware he felt.

Annoyance flickered across Kane's face. "Gone where? When?" He demanded, squaring off in front of Bellamy.

"She didn't come into the camp with us. She didn't want to stay here." Bellamy said simply, and shrugged as if that made perfect sense. What else was he supposed to do.

"She abandoned us again!" Octavia gasped before she could regain some control.

"Do you know where she's gone, when she'll be back. Did she tell you anything?" Kane's voice had an uncharacteristic edge to it. More than the worry of a leader. He paced away from the group

"No, she didn't have any plans. Just not here." Bellamy answered. To his surprise Octavia nodded as if that did make sense. He was missing something and he didn't like it.

Kane turned to the guard, "Look Miller, don't tell the Chancellor. I'll handle that. In fact just keep this to yourself for now." The guard nodded in understanding and left.

"In that case we should just get started." Kane beckoned them all to a table at the back of the space with benches either side. "Thoughts anyone?"

Lincoln, who had remained standing was the first to speak. "You need to prepare for winter. If you stay here everything will be buried by snow in two months."

"Are you suggesting we abandon the camp!" Kane eyed him incredulously.

Lincoln simply nodded.

"Where would we go?" Octavia asked apprehensively looking up at him.

"We don't have enough food!" Wick asserted, "And I doubt we have enough time to gather it. Even if that is all we do from now till then." He looked grim.

Lincoln shifted on his feet but remained silent.

"We have to warn the other Arks" Kane added. "They need a chance to prepare as best they can."

They sat silently for a moment then Bellamy uttered words he'd never imagined saying. "We need to go back to the mountain." He waited for someone to disagree with him, but no one did.

"They have the supplies we will need to fix the other camps radios." Wick chimed in. "Plus they have food and the means to grow more." He finished.

"They obviously have medical supplies. " Kane snorted remembering the savage use they'd been put to.

Lincoln shifted again. "They have weapons. Many weapons. If you do not seize them another clan will." Lincoln's voice was restrained but it was clear that this was his main concern.

A heavy silence filled the tent. There was no way they would survive an assault from grounders armed with guns. There was no safety behind these fences. They were sitting ducks.

Lincoln spoke again. He had obviously given this much thought. "You have some time, but not much. Any agreement the commander has made will require us to stay away from the mountain. But news of your survival and the Mountain's fall will spread and then my people will return." Octavia looked at Lincoln sadly. Bellamy didn't understand why and didn't have the time to care.

"We don't have time to move everything from the Ark to the mountain. We can't just leave it here unguarded." Kane said getting up from the table in frustration. "Are you sure we can't survive the winter here?" He asked Lincoln, who nodded once.

"How long does the snow last?" Octavia said also standing and taking Lincoln's hand again.

"Three month, sometimes four." He replied.

Kane turned to Wick. "The Ark was designed to survive in space, why couldn't we survive the winter here?" He demanded.

"Either way we have to return to get radio supplies and the weapons, then send a team to warn the other Arks." Bellamy said, decided. He turned to Kane. "You can figure out the logistics of the rest while we are gone."

To his amazement Kane simply nodded in agreement. Bellamy felt relieved that he was being listened to, but unsettled as well.

The rest of the morning was spent planning. An uncharacteristically sombre Wick didn't want to leave Raven, who was still unconscious. But Sinclair was out of commission so Kane insisted. Jasper had spoken just long enough to say he'd stay with her. Monty was also keen to return and it transpired that he had promised to bring Maya to the ground and bury her. After that Kane agreed to send enough people to bury the dead and haul back supplies. An armed guard detail would go with them and then return swiftly to camp once the mountain group had been armed.

By the time Bellamy left the tent the sun was nearly directly overhead. It felt warm enough to him right now. It was hard to imagine the forest around them blanketed in snow. They'd learnt all about the seasons in Earth Craft, but the idea of ice-crystals falling from the sky still seemed like magic to him. He just hoped he was there to watch Octavia's face the first time she saw it. A dull ache filled his chest, and for the first time in a long time, he missed his mother. He shook it off and walked over to the mess-tent stomach complaining loudly.

The next day Lincoln avoided him on the way back to the mountain, scouting ahead and around and behind. Octavia stalked beside him, silently for most of the journey. Until he had asked her about Tondc. Her voice had dripped with venom when she revealed that Clarke had made it to the village on time, but said nothing before the bomb dropped.

"The only person she warned was her precious Commander, and then they deserted us. She left me, our people, even her own mother to die."

Instant denial fell from Bellamy's lips as he turned to angrily confront his sister. "Clarke wouldn't do that!" Octavia just snorted and turned her back on him and began walking away.

Bellamy pulled her back by the shoulder. "There has to be more to it than that. Clarke would never betray us."

Octavia grew angry with him. "Maybe not the old Clarke", she snarled. "You didn't see how close she was to Lexa!" She spat the Commander's name. "Those two needed to get a room, she wasn't just thinking with her head if you know what I mean."

Bellamy stopped dumbfounded. He trusted Octavia, she would never lie to him. Had Clarke? Clarke had told him his sister was not in Tondc. When he found out she was lying he'd forgiven her because she'd jumped on a horse to warn her. But Clarke hadn't even done that. Bellamy felt a white hot anger that he'd seldom felt before. He stalked away from Octavia, the conversation over.

When the fuck had Clarke started lying to him. There had not been many steady things to cling to on this God forsaken planet, but her loyalty to the group, to him, had been one. And now it was gone. Had the commander convinced Clarke to send him on that mission to get him out of the way. What the hell had she really meant when she'd said she was being weak?

They reached the entrance of the Mountain just before sunset. The large steel door was closed but Wick said it wasn't locked and they could get inside. Instead they opted to spend the cooling night camped outside. They would face whatever lay within tomorrow, when the sun was up.

Eventually Lincoln returned to share their fire. The other Arker's were still wary of the grounder and the three were left alone to eat.

"Bellamy," Lincoln began.

Then stopped and dropped his eyes, unable to continue. Finally he looked Bellamy in the eye and said.

"I have a debt to you I can not repay."

Lincoln had been many things since he had crossed their path, but Bellamy had never seen him so uncomfortable.

"I didn't know I was going to do that." Lincoln said finally.

From Octavia's lack of reaction it was clear she knew what they were talking about. Except.

"I don't want to talk about it Lincoln. Everything about that place was messed up." Bellamy pointed at Octavia. "But if you ever betray me again I will sic my sister on you."

Octavia snorted with laughter and slapped him. Lincoln was first bemused and then relaxed and smiled, shaking his head. These Sky People were crazy.

Later Lincoln disappeared again to scout the perimeter. He had informed Bellamy that he wouldn't go into the mountain. He still didn't trust himself near the red drug. Bellamy understood his reluctance. But with his intimate knowledge of the base layout he himself had no choice, despite his own fears. He imagined Monty felt the same way, but he'd chosen not to join their fire, still wary of Lincoln, so he couldn't ask.

Octavia unrolled the bedding she had been sitting on and got ready to sleep.

"Thank you" she said simply, but her eyes sparkled with gratitude and love.

Bellamy lay down opposite her looking up at the stars. The crisp night air smelled of pines. He put his hands behind his head and breathed out.

"We've all done stuff, O" he said. "Every time I look at Lincoln I am reminded of the fact that I tortured him." Bellamy gulped, but it felt oddly good to talk. "I did what I felt I had to. But the more I get to know him the more I realize he is a better man than me. I'm glad you have him watching your back."

Octavia was silent for a moment then she half whispered, "He watches more than my back."

Bellamy groaned and threw a stick at her. "Go to sleep O." He joked, then grew silent as he took in a full view of the universe above.

Raven straddled him, rocking her hips violently against his. Her eyes were closed, face contorted as she arched her back forcing her small breasts to jut almost skyward. Drops of sweat glistened on her dark skin and Bellamy palmed one breast before rolling the nipple between his thumb and fingers. He squeezed and pulled, but she was too far gone to notice him. His hands fell back to her hips trying to control their rhythm. He closed his eyes, rested his head against the bed and plunged into her. She was warm and wet, he was close. His body tensed as he felt his release building.

"What are you doing!" Clarke hissed.

His eyes shot open and turned to hers as Raven continued to ride him. Her eyes were like cold fire, steely blue and glistening with outrage. The pale skin of her neck was flushed. She knelt beside him, their faces almost touching. Her lips were too close. Her arm shot out behind her, and without looking she palmed Raven's breast.

"Is this what you want?" She hissed again, her breath leaving a trail of fire on his throat.

Raven moaned and leaned into Clarke's touch.

"Is this who you want?"

Raven's dark eyes opened and looked straight through him.

"No!" He gasped, throat dry.

Clarke's mouth covered his. Fingers combed up her neck into her golden hair, drawing her closer to him. She was warm and soft. Her tongue pushed against his. Not fighting him, joining him, reveling in him. Bellamy's other hand travelled down her spine, sending shivers across her skin that he could feel through the way she tightened around him. She felt so good.

He thrust himself into her harder, losing himself in her. His hand left her hair and she pulled away to look at him. Clear blue eyes lit with need and something more. His thumb traced the line of her cheek and caressed her mouth. She arched into him, deeper, and her lips parted into a little O. She sucked on the side of his thumb and then took it into her mouth. He was going to explode, but fought to regain control. So close, but not yet. She wasn't ready.

He pushed himself into a sitting position as her hips continued to gyrate against his. One of her hands held the nape of his neck, to steady herself. The other snaked down between their sweaty bodies and he could feel her fingers caressing herself between them. Her back arched, as he held her in his strong arms, exposing her flushed chest to his gaze. Clarke's breasts were soft and heavy her nipples pink and hard. He released his grip on her slightly so one hand could cup her soft white flesh as his tongue flicked and licked. He had his eyes closed sucking her nipple when she became still.

Lexa's cold blade hovered at Clarke's neck which was curved back by the gloved fist in her hair.

"Is this what you want?" Lexa whispered in Clarke's ear seductively.

Cold steel slithered down Clarke's body, between her breasts forcing Bellamy back onto his elbows.

"Is this who you want?" Lexa's full lips caressed Clarke's ear as she spoke.

She cupped Clarke's chin in her hand and brought their lips together. Bellamy watched in disbelief as Clarke responded. Her pale arm snaked up into Lexa's hair to pull them deeper into the kiss.

Clarke's hips began to move against his own again and Bellamy gripped them with his hands. Trying to hold on to her even as his back sank onto the bed. She was desperate now. Her hand on his chest, then gripping his thigh, as Lexa urged Clarke to use him. Lexa straddled Bellamy behind Clarke. Cupping her breasts, trailing kisses down her neck. Clarke writhed on top of him eyes closed, drawing strength from him. And through the horror of it all, he gave it to her. He was hard with need, for her. He pulled on her hips, kneaded her flesh, thrust into her deeper harder.

When Bellamy moved his thumb to Clarke's center she moaned, eyes flickering. Lexa stopped him, replacing his hand with her own. Clarke bucked wildly on him now eyes scrunched tight, wet lips parted, panting.

"Come for me!" Lexa demanded eyes ablaze with triumph as she glared at Bellamy.

Clarke's walls spasmed around him and a flush of red raced from her quivering abdomen to her chest and into her face, her eyes flew open.

"Bellamy!" She cried out.

White light surrounded Clarke, blinding Bellamy, as red fire consumed her flesh. She flew apart like burning embers blown on the wind.

Bellamy was left alone in the dark, panting, reaching for her. No not alone. Lexa screamed as she lunged out of the darkness in full battle armor and buried her dagger deep into his frantically beating heart.

Bellamy jerked upright, soaked in sweat, freezing in the cold night air. Lincoln was staring at him across the glow of their small fire.

"Your watch?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

"Sure." Said Bellamy, pulling his blanket tighter around him and moving closer to the heat.

Lincoln lay down next to Octavia and Bellamy was left alone wondering where the hell Clarke was, and what she was doing in his nightmares.

They rose at first light, the ground glistened with dew. Octavia offered him some of last night's dinner for breakfast but he just shook his head as she chomped down herself, sharing with Lincoln. She shook her head at him in bemusement. His stomach couldn't face food when he considered what lay behind the door. Clearly his sister was made of sterner stuff. That made him smile and Octavia asked him what was so funny. He'd never admit to her how bad ass she'd become, so he got up and headed to the door.

The emergency lighting was still working. Casting a cold blue light over the silent corridors. The sounds of the boots echoed of the metal walls. The smell inside the mountain did not hit him until they reached level 5. It had only been a few days but the radiation burns had accelerated the decay. Originally they had planned to dig graves. But the task before them was too daunting and the ground too hard. Instead they built pyres in the clearing beyond the door. Finding wood was easy, a large army had just left leaving a ready supply behind.

Carrying the children had been the hardest. Bellamy's heart was heavy by the end of the day. As he lay them gently on their own pyre he had to keep telling himself that they had no choice. They didn't start this. The mountain men had brought this fate on themselves. The bullets in the people who had helped him reminded him of this. But it was no good. However complicit the adults were, the children remained innocent. Their small light bodies weighing his soul down.

They buried Maya just within the tree line where a natural rock formation provided a good landmark. They knew Jasper would want to find her eventually. Monty had wrapped her in a colorful blanket to bring her out. While Bellamy and Monty dug her grave Octavia gathered wild flowers for her and she and Lincoln performed a ritual for the dead that belonged to his people, to purify her soul, cleanse of her burdens and prepare her for the next life.

Bellamy didn't understand how Lincoln could show so much compassion to the hideously disfigured girl he had never met. He was confused by the gentleness of this soul housed in the body of a lethal killer. But then it struck him, he couldn't remember if he had ever seen Lincoln take a life.

Octavia placed some flowers in Maya's hair and her hands and then they placed her carefully rewrapped body in the cold ground. After they had covered her Monty said a few words of thanks and regret. Bellamy added his own but it wasn't enough. All the different ways he could have saved Maya ran through Bellamy's head. Hindsight was a terrible companion. He had owed her his life, she deserved so much more.

The fires burned late into the night. In time small groups peeled off to head inside and find a place to sleep. No one feared the cold enough to be warmed by the heat of those flames. The smell filled the air and the smoke was clearly visible against the sunset. He had hoped darkness would hide their deed but the fires were too large, too ferocious and the night was too clear. They all knew the Grounders would have to send scouts to investigate.

"If we are lucky perhaps they are will believe these are our remains" Octavia said hopefully over the crackle and pop of the fire. But it was a slim hope, there were far too many for this to be Sky-Kru.

Eventually the smell of burning flesh drove the last Arkers inside and Bellamy was left alone with his sister to witness the consequences of what he had done. What he had had to do. What they had to do. His thoughts wandered to Clarke. He wondered if she could see or smell the fire. Would she understand what was happening? Would she come? His eyes looked at the tree line but they were useless from gazing into the fire too long. She could be out there right now and he wouldn't know.

Bellamy hoped it wouldn't take Wick and Monty too long to gather the radio supplIes. He needed to put some distance between himself and the mountain. But first he needed to find a place to rest so he went inside and headed for the living quarters. That was when he heard the baby cry.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Note : Okay this was tricky to write. I'm introducing some stuff that will mean more in later chapters. I could have published a couple of days ago but I wasn't happy. I decided to go for due to all the very kind personal messages I received. Thank you so much. I don't seem able to reply personally, I'm sure I will figure it out. I'm just hoping this does actually post as a ch2 and not a new story.

Bellamy after the Mountain (ch2)

Bellamy walked around the corner into the large dimly lit corridor. A ginger haired lady with a hook nose was being given medical attention by Wick and Norm, head of the guards. Ginger had burnt her hand and Norm was applying some sort of cream to it. "Bellamy!" His sister called him over to the source of the noise. Monty was cradling a crying infant, maybe six months old. "We found her in Medical when we were looking for something for Beth." He said, never taking his adoring eyes of the child, who screamed up at him in angry demand. "She was sleeping, we must have missed her when we did the first sweep. I thought she was dead." Monty's voice was thick with emotion. "And then she cried when I picked her up." Bellamy couldn't place the look on Monty's face. Love?. "We didn't kill them all." Monty almost whispered. "Not all."

Bellamy looked around at his team and cleared his throat loudly. Everyone paid him attention. "Right," he said,"does anyone here know anything about babies?" No one answered, although Lincoln looked fairly shifty and Bellamy could have sworn he actually took a step backwards. It figured. No one had a little brother or sister, except him, and his team were mostly too young to have qualified for reproduction. Ginger glanced and Norm but the silence stretched on and Bellamy realized that he had no volunteers. He was tired and he wanted to sleep, but a crying infant who hadn't eaten in three days was not going to wait. "Monty you are with me. You two hunt for some clean clothes and a crib for her." He said pointing directly at Lincoln, secretly enjoying giving the intimidating Grounder orders. "Monty with me", he said heading for when he remembered the kitchen to be.

Monty sat on a crate feeding the baby milk from a cup, most of it splashing over himself and the baby who grabbed his hands and slurped noisily. "I'm going to call her Maya." He said mostly to himself. Bellamy just nodded. When Octavia returned she convinced everyone they should sleep in real beds and led them to the living apartments. All the doors were unlocked and people found their own places to bunk down. She showed Monty one that had a crib and Bellamy followed him inside while Octavia left, presumably to find Lincoln. As Bellamy eyed the bed in the bedroom he tried not to think about that.

The air in the room felt stagnant and the walls closed in around Bellamy making it hard for him to breathe. "You need to clean her up first." He said to Monty who was stooping over the crib. The faucet over the bathroom sink rattled for a moment before cool water began to flow. Bellamy tried to adjust the temperature, but nothing happened. Monty had laid Maya on the floor and was stripping away her soiled clothes. Bellamy was impressed at the lack of fuss Monty was making. For a little baby Maya had produced a lot of mess, most of which stank and covered her legs and abdomen in brown stains. Monty picked her up by the under arms and began to hand her up to Bellamy. At just that moment she peed all over Monty. "Ew!" He exclaimed, leaping up holding the baby at arms length. Bellamy couldn't help laughing so he didn't bother to try. "Here!" Monty said forcibly handing Bellamy Maya, who's legs had curled up into sitting position while she dangled. A delighted look on her face. Bellamy placed her on a towel next to the sink while Monty stripped to the waist. Bellamy was oblivious to the lithe muscles covering Monty's torso, a big change from the scrawny kid who had first hit the ground all those weeks ago. He was too caught up, gazing into Maya's deep blue eyes.

He remembered holding Octavia like this. Washing her by the sink, steadying her as she wobbled a little, not quite able to sit up on her own. His mom was away a lot, or so it felt. He learned from a young age how to clean her. Lingering diaper smell might have alerted a guard during an unannounced inspection. As soon as she was dirty she was changed, washed and her diaper hidden in an airtight bucket until mom came home. He was an expert at diapers and feeding before he was seven years old. Octavia had been a quiet child, easy to look after, very self reliant. He wasn't sure if she was born that way or it was a result of how they lived.

Bellamy stripped to his tight black t-shirt, baring arms that had always been strong from carrying too heavy a load at too young an age. He cleaned her face and hands first and then wiped off the worst with a wet towel, but it quickly became clear that she needed a deeper clean. He filled the sink and sat her in it. She wailed as she sank into the water and tried to stand. Bellamy had to hold her upright with one arm and soap her with his free hand while she squirmed and fought to get away. By the time she was finally washed and rinsed both of them were soaking. Monty returned still shirtless with a blanket in his hands. Now it was his turn to laugh. Bellamy raised his eyebrow at him with a do not mock look on his face, but Monty ignored him and continued to chuckle as he held out his arms to wrap Maya in the blanket. Bellamy shook his head and began to undress. He remembered how Monty and Jasper used to shrink away if he so much as glanced in their direction. This was something new. Perhaps this was what having friends felt like.

He sat on the side of the bath struggling with his boots as he thought about the number of friends he'd had on the Ark. One, Peter Simms. Friends since Kindergarten. The only person who he had stayed friends with after Octavia was born. He knew he wasn't supposed to have friends and he definitely wasn't supposed to tell them about Octavia but Peter Simms had known, and never told a soul. They'd liked to tell each other stories and imagine being space adventurers blasting off to explore new planets. By second grade Peter was dead and Bellamy was alone in school. He couldn't remember how Peter died, but he hadn't had a true friend since. Until the ground. Until Clarke. If you could call what they had friendship.

He remembered the words she had uttered the first time she refused his idea to infiltrate the mountain. "I can't lose you too." They had taken him by surprise and he didn't know quite what to make of them at the time. He still didn't. The kiss Clarke had placed on his cheek, and the way she had held him tight against her before she left had meant something, But what? He didn't flatter himself that it was romantic. She seemed to go for the big softies, although he thought to himself, there was certainly nothing soft about Lexa, and if what Octavia had implied was true... He still didn't know what to think.

He stalked out of the bathroom into the main living space to find Monty placing a fully clothed Maya into her crib, already asleep. He padded over in his undershorts and socks and gazed down at her. His chest burned with emotion and he quietly indicated that Monty should follow him back into the bathroom. "It won't last" he whispered. "She must be exhausted, but she'll be hungry again soon. You should make sure you have milk in here for when she wakes." "Don't worry," Monty said naively. "I'll get her some at breakfast." Bellamy chuckled. "She's not going to let you sleep till breakfast. Two hours tops." Monty looked at Bellamy like he was joking and gulped when he realized his leader was being deadly serious.

Bellamy brought his clothes out to the main room to dry while Monty rinsed his shirt and jacket in the sink. He was quietly going through the closets looking for something he could wear when Norm stuck his head through the open apartment door. "Everyone is settled in for the night Sir" he said, apparently ignoring Bellamy's state of undress. That was until Monty walked out of the bathroom, also in just his undershorts. Norm's eyebrows tried to hide themselves in his hair and he visibly blushed. His eyes looking anywhere but at Bellamy landed on the bed - bereft of it's blanket looking disheveled. "Three guards are on duty at the door, they'll change shifts at three. " His words rushed out. Then he waited, impatiently. It took Bellamy a moment to realize why. "Good work, See you in the morning." He rumbled at Norm, who quickly left. Monty went over to stare at Maya, blissfully unaware of what Norm thought was going on between them.

"Where are your pants?" Bellamy hissed. "Hanging up to dry, they got wet." Monty said slowly as if talking to a small child. Then shook his head and pulled open a few drawers before finding some pants and a T-shirt. They were too large, making him suddenly look much younger than he was. Just a kid after all. Bellamy also got dressed and headed to the door. "Wait, you're not leaving me are you?" Monty exclaimed in panic. Bellamy turned at the door and put his finger to his lips. "Sshh," he said, an amused twinkle in his eye, "you'll wake the baby." And then he was gone in search of a quieter place to sleep.

Bellamy lay in bed staring up at the layers of mountain above his head. The weight of it crushed down on him. He thought about sleeping outside for a moment, but he was too warm and comfortable. He rolled on to his side, pulling the pillow further under his head, and tried to think of anything but being buried alive. What, he wondered, would Clarke do if she knew about Maya. Would she forgive herself. Would she come home. Just as he was drifting off he thought he heard a baby cry, but it was so very far away.

A pale hand shook him awake. The baby was crying hungrily. "Get her for me please!" A tired voice pleaded groggily. He sat up letting his eyes adjust to the starlight before going to the crib at the bottom of their bed. Maya stopped crying when he picked her up and cradled her against his bare chest. He placed her gently on the bed and then went to the cramped bathroom. He looked up at the clock, still another two hours until his work shift started.

When he got back to the bed he was greeted by the sight of a curvy back bared to the base of the spine, golden hair cascading around the shoulders and onto the pillow. The baby was making slurping sounds. He climbed in and ran his hand across the soft skin following the curve of the spine and moving the blanket back to reveal his wife's perfect arse, her top leg bent away from him as if to cradle the baby. He ran his fingers from the back of the knee over up over her wide hips and up again into the golden hair pushing it away from him exposing the neck. He planted a kiss there sucking on the skin just below the ear.

The sharp intake of breath and pressing of buttocks against his hips let him know his attentions were not unwelcome. He pulled their bodies closer and trailed kisses across her back where it was dappled by starlight from their small port hole. He grabbed at the top leg lifting it slightly so he could slide between the fleshy mounds. Then he let the leg drop effectively trapping him there. He began to thrust and he could tell he was rubbing against all the right places as he continued to pepper kisses against salty skin of the back and neck. He knew it was time when her hips shifted to allow him fuller access. He held on to the them as he eased himself inside. When he was finally all the way in he waited for the tight walls around him to adjust to his girth before he thrust again. This time in and out of the tight flesh. Hot cold hot cold. In out in out. Moans filled their room, he knew he wasn't going to last long like this. But he knew he didn't have to wait, not this time. His pace increased and he could feel the muscles of his legs and abdomen tightening as he got closer and then suddenly he was there one last thrust to get him deeper and he exploded inside the tight warm walls that closed around him sucking up his come as he continued to twitch. He lay breathless for a moment face resting against his partners soft back, then withdrew. "She's asleep " the tired voice whispered. "Can you put her back in her crib." Bellamy reached over as his partner rolled to meet him and looked straight into Monty's eyes.

What the fuck! Bellamy's hand ran through his sleep tousled hair and he leapt from the bed. What the actual fuck, he thought to himself. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He didn't wait for the water to warm up before stripping and stepping inside. The cool water cascaded over his hot flesh. He leaned his palms against the wall and rested his forehead on the cool tile. It had obviously been too long since he experienced real release. There hadn't exactly been much privacy in his life recently. That was something he would sort out now in the privacy of the shower.

In the morning Bellamy returned to Monty's room to find him curled up asleep on the bed with his little finger in Maya's sucking mouth. When she saw Bellamy she reached for him, obviously not holding any ill will over yesterdays cold bath. babies were great that way. He picked her up and raised her gingerly to his nose. She smelled clean and Bellamy suspected Monty had only recently changed her, so he leant her on his shoulder while he struggled back into his own clothes. Monty rolled onto his side and mumbled "Thanks mom".

Most people were already in the canteen by the time he got there. Ginger was dishing out some sort of porridge for breakfast. They already knew what their assignments were. They'd each been picked because they had knowledge in specific areas. Agriculture, maintenance, medical, science and military. Sometimes not a lot of knowledge but they were what he had to work with.

He took the baby over to Norm, and asked him to assign someone to feed and watch her till Monty woke up. Norm grinned at her and placed Maya on his hips.

He banged a metal spoon on the table and addressed them. "Okay people. You have five hours to gather information then I'm going to be coming round for reports. Eat up and then let's get to it." He sat and wolfed down his own breakfast. As he was leaving, headed for the main door, Wick fell in beside him. He was happy and relaxed. Bellamy wasn't surprised to learn that he had been in Radio contact with Raven already that morning. "We don't have to worry about scrounging parts." He said " They have whole crates of radios waiting to be unpacked. They are small portable units. We should be able to carry them in our packs easily enough. Once we get to the other Arks we can leave them a fully functioning radio." Bellamy didn't know much of anything about radios but he had seen the antennas. They were not small. But Wick assured them that it was not a problem.

He left Wick to go and do an inventory of the medical and science equipment and headed to the outer door. The cool breeze that carried with it the hint of pines trees did very little to cover the smell of charcoal. He kept his eyes from the pyre but he saw enough to know they would need to a gather more wood and relight it to finish the job. First though he needed to clear his head. He walked away from the pyre and into the trees, oblivious to the eyes that were watching him.

Before he left camp Kane had offered him a position on the council. Not a full position until there was a vote, but an advisory one. He'd been shocked. He'd played for time and told Kane he would think about it after they'd secured the mountain, but he could tell Kane thought it was a done deal. Bellamy wasn't so sure. All his life it seemed his over-riding motivation for doing anything was to protect his sister. Everything up until she was discovered, including joining the guard had been to protect her. He'd agreed to murder a man in order to go the the ground with her. He had murdered hundreds because they pointed a gun at her head. What wouldn't he do for her. Not that she needed much in the way of protecting from anyone these days. He liked to think he could still take her in a fight. He liked to think. He didn't know what he would do if she decided to leave with Lincoln. He knew he couldn't follow her into that world. There was no place for him there. Who would he be then.

He headed back inside. Norm was still carrying Maya around on his hip. She was wide eyed and alert. Monty needed to be up. He took her and told Norm to organize relighting the pyre. Monty was still flat out on the bed. Maya squealed when she saw him. Bellamy was not gentle waking him up. He left them there and continued further into the mountain to get reports.

Everyone he spoke to said exactly the same thing. The mountain was an Alladin's cave. On the Ark their resources had been finite, dwindling. Here there was an abundance of everything. Too much to move. Too precious to abandon. He hadn't been convinced until he walked into the armory. It was huge. Vast. Enormous. Cavernous. Not only were there hand weapons, but vehicle mounted weapons as well. Things he had no name for, but which carried heavy warning labels. They could never move these and they could not let them fall into the hands of their enemies. It appeared that the only thing that had prevented the Mountain men from wiping out the other grounded was their vulnerability to radiation and their need for Grounder blood. He shuddered to think what could have been unleashed against Lincoln's people if the mountain men had made it to the surface. But what would his people do with it all? He wasn't sure he trusted them either. The room sent chills through him and a thrill of excitement. That night over the radio he formally accepted his appointment to the council and listened while Kane confirmed it in front of the people of the Ark. His people.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3 Bellamy after the Mountain

The rising sun glinted of the metal door as Bellamy's group prepared to leave the Mountain. They barely recognized each other. Each was kitted out in clothes and equipment taken from the armory. Even Lincoln had accepted a camouflage jacket and backpack laden with supplies. Everyone but him was armed with guns. He had refused, instead choosing some evil looking knives and a crossbow which attached to his pack. Mist was rising from Bellamy's lips. "How sure are you that we have two months before the snows?" He asked. Lincoln shrugged and headed out in the direction of the first Ark Beacon followed by Octavia. Behind them trailed a reluctant Wick. He had wanted to stay behind and play with his new toys, but both Bellamy and Kane had insisted he was needed on the mission. Bellamy walked next to him leaving two Guards to pick up the rear. Their names were Bill and Ben Bobs. Both descendants of the original Bob brothers who had been on the European Space station when the apocalypse happened.

The path was easy going, through the trees and down the mountain. The air around them warming up as the morning drew on and the scent of all things green filled their nostrils. At noon they stopped by a bubbling stream and ate a hearty lunch, packed for them that morning by Ginger. They hadn't seen a single other soul since man or animal. Though Bellamy often felt that the trees were watching him. After spending so much time surrounded by an army of grounders one way or the other, the forest was eerily quiet. Octavia was tearing off a chunk of fresh bread when an arrow whizzed past her cheek and out into the forest. Lincoln leapt from his spot on a fallen tree and raced after it. Everyone grabbed for their guns and dived behind what cover they could find pointing their weapons into the forest looking for a target. Finding nothing. A few minutes later Lincoln returned carrying a large rabbit in one hand and his crossbow in the other. "Dinner." He said simply holding up the rabbit.

They crossed the stream and followed it down the mountain for the rest of the day. Until it widened up into what could only be described as a river. They had walked for eight hours and Bellamy wanted to find a defensible spot to camp. There was nothing but forest so in the end they put up their tents in a small clearing. Bellamy watched in fascination as Octavia expertly butchered the rabbitl wasting none of the precious meat. It seemed that warfare wasn't the only thing she'd learnt during her time with the Grounders. The Bobs gathered firewood while Lincoln dug out a fire pit and lined it with stones. Once the fire was going Octavia laid strips of meat on the hot outer stones to cook. Then she began scraping at the skin of the rabbit. Lincoln looked on pleased. "Your sister sure is a fast learner." Wick observed while setting up the radio. "That is because she can see." Lincoln said placing a small pot of water onto the fire. "What is that supposed to mean?" Bill asked dropping a pile of dry wood next to the stones. "Look towards the river." Lincoln told Bill, Bellamy and Wick also followed his gaze. "Now look at me. What did you see?" Instinctively Bill moved his head to look again. Lincoln stopped him abruptly with the sharp point of his knife on Bill's cheek. "No, what did you see when you looked?" Bill just shrugged. "I don't know, the river I guess." "You guess?" Lincoln barely managed to keep a mocking tone from his voice. "If you want to survive you must learn to see." Bellamy absorbed this thought and resolved to see when he looked. Bill looked back at the river, shook his head and went to scout the perimeter.. "What are you making?" He asked his sister. She smiled at him and said "A hat, eventually. I'm told it's going to get cold." With that she winked at Lincoln and they shared a laugh. If it was a joke Bellamy did not get it.

While dinner cooked Wick contacted both The Mountain and Camp Jaha. Kane was worried about Abby and Raven. It looked like their wounds were getting infected but they had given them antibiotics from Mt Weathers supply. They were trying to decide whether to move them and the other injured back to the mountain. Kane was headed there tomorrow to assess the situation for himself. Still not convinced they should abandon the camp. In the Mountain Monty had managed to get some exterior cameras working. He still wasn't sure what part of the outside he was looking at though. Norm and Ginger were helping him look after Maya. Norm confirmed that they had started building defenses outside the main door.

For dinner they had a rabbit and root vegetable mash, courtesy of Lincoln showing Bill where to dig on the river bank. After the Bobs retreated to their tent, discussing Earth Skills, Lincoln did a final perimeter check. Octavia sat cleaning her knife while she waited for him. When Wick vanished to find the bathroom Bellamy took his chance to talk to her.

"So Octavia." He began, and she immediately recognized his lecture for your own good tone. "Hmhmm." She acknowledged not taking her eyes from her task. "Maya got me thinking. You and Lincoln are..." A sharp rise of her eyebrow made him swallow his words and rethink the phrasing of them. "What I mean is... are you being careful?" She just stared at him, the flames from the fire reflecting in her eyes. Bellamy gulped and shifted on his seat. "I'm always careful." She said deadpan. "I was born careful, you know that." And he did. Every aspect of their lives had been careful. Bellamy felt a flush rise on his cheek and was glad of the fire for hiding it's source. "O, you know what I'm talking about. Lincoln is a lot older than you. He might not care if you get... He might even want..." "Babies?" Octavia finished for him. "Oh he does," she gushed. "lots of them." Bellamy was aghast. "But...but.., Octavia Blake" he finally said, pulling himself up into Big Brother mode. "You're not even eighteen yet, you can't be serious!" Octavia laughed out loud at him and cupped his cheek fondly in her hand. "Don't worry big bro. I'm not ready to make you an uncle yet. Besides I couldn't if I wanted to. None of us could." Bellamy stared at her blankly. "Population control. Everyone was given a 5 year contraceptive shot before we left." Bellamy was at once relieved and angry. He was so fed up of the Council's will being imposed on him without his consent. But of course now he was on the Council too. Things, he thought, were going to change.

When Lincoln returned Octavia led him into their tent and winked at Bellamy over her shoulder. It was nice to have the old O back. Even if just for a bit. The ground had made her hard and serious. It was good to see her happy. A squeal erupted from their tent and Bellamy turned away. He was really trying not to think about that.

Wick sat with his back to him and looked up at the stars. "Do you ever miss home?" He asked Bellamy. "This is home." He replied firmly. "It always was." Wick shook his head. "I miss the hum." he said. "I miss having a roof over my head. I miss, I dunno, I miss my life". Bellamy thought for a moment. "I didn't have a life there. If I'd stayed I would have probably been floated in a few years anyway." With that Bellamy got up and walked around the outside of the camp keeping his back to the flames so that he could see into the woods. Tomorrow they should reach the first ship and find out if there were any survivors. The initial approach would be the most dangerous if the way the guards at Camp Jaha had reacted to strangers approaching them was an indication. They'd shot at Clarke the first time she had arrived, fleeing the Mountain Men. He'd have to be smarter than that. She'd always had trouble assuming the worst in people. The Bobs took the next watch and Bellamy and Wick shared a tent. Bellamy marveled at it. They popped up from practically nothing but they were so well insulated and so good at keeping the wind out that within a few minutes he was already warm enough to fall into a deep dreamless sleep.

They found the first piece of Ark wreckage about five miles outside of their camp. It was hard to tell how important it was or how badly damaged the rest of the ship might be, but no-one took it as a good sign. The sun was still rising when they found a larger piece. The ship had definitely broken apart before hitting the ground. It was with sinking spirits that they made a camp for lunch. Up ahead the river opened into a large lake, practically an inland sea. If the Ark had landed there, then hopes for survivors must be lost. Octavia and Lincoln did a sweep of the area while Bill prepared some re-hydrated rations from the Mount Weather supplies.

Ben was the first to his feet when Octavia walked back into the camp being pushed by two Ark Guards with guns pointed at her back. "Woah!" Bellamy exclaimed. Let's not do anything hasty. We are here to help." One of the Guards with a scar across his nose kicked Octavia to the ground. Bellamy moved forward, but she shot him an emphatic no look, so he stepped back again. Scarface pointed a gun at her head and said. "Like we would fall for that again. You bastards make me sick! Drop your weapons!" The two Bobs glanced at Bellamy and he indicated that they should comply. They slowly lowered their rifles to the ground but did not kick them away.

"We are not who you think we are." Bellamy began. "We are all from the Ark same as you. We heard your radio beacon." He thought for a moment about how he could convince them the fastest. He needed to diffuse this situation before Lincoln came back. "Remember the girl who grew up under the floor. Octavia Blake?" Bellamy asked earnestly "Remember her loser brother who was in the Guard and got demoted to Janitor." Time was ticking by and they were not cottoning on fast enough. Then one said, "Do you mean Bellamy Blake the guy who shot chancellor Jaha?" "Wait!" The second guy said, coming out from behind the first and staring first into Octavia's face and then his. "You really are them, you were part of the 100. You shot the Chancellor." Instantly the guns were pointed away from Octavia and at Bellamy. "Hey, I was pardoned by Jaha himself personally." Bellamy pleaded hands in the air. Octavia moved sweeping one Guard's feet away from him and using the other leg to kick Scarface in the back of the knee. While her hands were still on the ground. Bellamy just gawped at her while the Bob's moved in swiftly, pointing their handguns at the heads of the now prostrate guards. Lincoln melted out of the tree-line directly in front of Bellamy, crossbow notched, how did I not see him? Bellamy wondered for a moment in awe. He was just about to open his mouth when Wick stumbled noisily from the forest clutching his roll of toilet paper. "Woah! What did I miss?"

"Me saving the day as usual." Octavia grinned as she leapt to her feet. The Bobs nodded their agreement at her and returned her grin. Which just made Octavia's grin even wider. Bellamy resisted the urge to banter with her about being captured. Now wasn't the time. "Wick get the radio out." He said keeping his eyes on the guards who had gotten to their knees but were remaining down. Bellamy had not given the order to disarm them. He hoped that he wasn't going to regret that, but right now he needed to build their trust. Wick pulled the portable radio out of the bag and pulled the antenna up as high as it would go. He looked doubtfully at the horizon. "Is there a problem?" Bellamy asked. "Maybe, maybe not. The Mountain is still in the way here, but if we can hit the antenna at the top I'll be able to bounce the signal off and back to Jaha."

"How many survivors are there?" One of the Guards asked. "Bellamy looked at Wick, who just shrugged. "More than we can easily count, let's just leave it at that." The two Guards looked at each other and visibly relaxed. The radio crackled and the Mount Jaha repeating signal came on. Short and brief. He we are come find us. Then Wick spoke into the Handset and Chancellor Griffin's voice came over the radio asking for a mission update. Wick was going to pass the handset over to Bellamy, but he motioned for Scarface to take it.

After a brief exchange Bellamy took the radio back and spoke to the Chancellor. "Good work Bellamy, or I should say councilor Blake. Get the survivors to head for the Mountain, we are already sending the wounded up there and getting ready to abandon camp. Move fast I don't think we have much time." After agreeing a check-in time for later that evening he was about to hand the radio back to Wick when she asked, " Is Clarke with you? Have you seen her?" His eyes automatically scanned the trees around them, as if she might suddenly materialize. "No, I'm sorry Chancellor. I don't where she is." He turned his back to hand the radio to Wick and when he looked round the Guards had reached for their weapons and were standing over him again. 


	4. Chapter 4

Bellamy After the Mountain Chapter 4.

Bellamy walked towards the barricade with hands high above his head trying to look as non threatening as possible. He did not want to be shot at again. Behind him Lincoln's hands were together and he hung his head, shuffling like a man who was defeated. Wick brought up the rear. Hands to the sky and a frantic worried look playing across his face as he searched for signs of impending violence.

Behind them Scarface and his friend escorted them in. Scarface waved up at a sentry guard and a door at the bottom opened. Once they were inside Bellamy lowered his hands and tried to assume his most confident pose, shoulders back, chin up. Lincoln's posture resolved into the silent killer he was, as his bare hands fell to his sides, menacingly. Wick remained hands to the sky desperately trying to look harmless. They stood still as what Bellamy perceived to be the Head of the Guard walked over to them. Scarface stepped forward and spoke to him quietly.

He was a tall well built man with grey hair at his temple and a strong jaw that clenched and unclenched before he spoke. "Well well what do we have here. Bellamy Blake most wanted man on the Ark. Where is your sister?" Bellamy decided to ignore his question. It wasn't relevant and besides he didn't want the big man to know yet.

"We have come from camp Jaha under Chancellor Griffin's orders to find survivors. We've brought a working radio that you can use to contact the camp." Bellamy waited for a response. Big Man just looked at him. "Who's in charge here?" He continued, although he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

Big Man walked past him and stood in front of Lincoln. "What is he doing here?" The edge to his voice made it very clear that if he got the wrong answer Lincoln's life was in danger. "Lincoln is our friend under the personal protection of the Chancellor. He has saved hundreds of Ark lives and is our ally" Big Man looked him up and down and decided not to start anything, yet. "Do you have many allies?" He asked squinting at Bellamy. That was also information Bellamy decided he didn't need to share just yet. The vibe in this camp was wrong.

Gunfire burst from the wall behind them. "Movement in the trees commander!" A voice called out. "Hold your fire!" The commander yelled out. "We have friendlies out there." He turned to Bellamy. "Isn't that right?" Bellamy met his steely stare. "Absolutely. This wouldn't have been the first time we walked into a trap. We have guards and warriors stationed beyond your perimeter. Waiting for us to give them the all clear." The Commander circled Bellamy then stood intimidatingly in front of him. "Then you should give it to them."

"I don't think so." Bellamy said carefully. "My orders were to leave the radio with whoever is in charge and get on with my mission." He looked at Wick. "He will make sure it's set up and operational and then we have to leave." Bellamy tried to make his voice imply dire consequences if they didn't and hoped that they didn't call his bluff. Just then Lincoln shifted into a new position. If he had looked menacing before now he looked down right lethal.

The commander eyed the radio that Wick was gingerly pulling out of his pack thoughtfully. "Very well, he can get to work. I am in charge here. We don't have any Councillors and we don't want any Chancellor here. We rule ourselves." He fixed Bellamy with a stare that in the past might have made his blood run cold. "This is not the Ark!"

The Commander motioned for one of his men to stay with Wick while he worked. "I need to send my man back out so that he can confirm it is Arkers holding the camp. Like I said we've seen a lot of traps. We needed to be sure." He exchanged a brief glance with the grounder and hoped that he knew what Bellamy was really asking of him. "Sure, why not, his type make my people uncomfortable I am not sure I could vouch for his safety anyway" With that he made a hand signal to the guards on the entrance and the door opened once more. "Hold your fire, the commander hollered." Then he turned to Lincoln with a mean twinkle in his eye and said. "All the same though, I suggest you run." Lincoln simply ducked his head at Bellamy and ran from the camp covering the distance to the trees with astonishing speed. Only when Bellamy could see him no more did he let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Bellamy looked beyond the Commander at the camp behind. It was roughly semi-circular butting against the shore of the lake. In the water close to shore he could see twisted metal wreckage extending out into the lake. Some of the structure was above water, some of it must have been submerged. The wreckage disappeared leaving only clear water for about 100m until a large section rose out of the water like an island fortress. He could see guards standing look out on the top. Wick was already halfway there on a raft being pushed by two guards wielding long poles.

"What happened here?" Bellamy asked. Now that Lincoln was out of danger he wanted to win the trust of this commander if he could. "What happened to the civilians?" As he eyed the shore camp he could see that every man and woman was in Guard uniform. "George why don't you give Councillor Blake the tour and fill him in. I don't have time for babysitting right now." Scarface came forward and indicated that Bellamy should follow him. He was actually smiling for the first time since Bellamy had met him. "Why don't we start in the mess hall. That crap you guys had for lunch didn't hit the spot. If you know what I mean." Bellamy had to smile back at that. "Lead the way George."

Then it was Bellamy's turn to be rafted to The Boat as the local Arker's were calling their home. watching the poles as they dipped in and out of the calm water he could tell that it wasn't very deep. Probably shallow enough to stand most of the way. That was reassuring. Bellamy mentally added learning to swim to the list of skills he needed to master. Lincoln could probably teach him, he reflected. Then he wondered if Octavia already knew how to. "How did anyone get to shore?" Bellamy asked as they approached an open airlock about 2ft above the water. George's face darkened and then he told Bellamy the story of what happened when the boat had crashed to earth.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 6 Bellamy after the Mountain.

"The Ark was shaking like crazy. In my section everything went dark and we could hear metal screaming as parts of the ship broke off. We were literally burning up. I thought that was terrifying until we hit. My first thought was I am dead. And then I felt the cold seeping in around my feet and I realized we'd hit water. I thought for sure we were dead, that we'd landed in an ocean somewhere. Then someone in the dark yelled out that it was fresh water. Everyone just moved. Emergency lighting flickered on and off in places. Then the ship rolled on its side and one of the ports was facing the sky letting light in. People were unstrapping themselves, trying to get the kids out. But the water was rising fast. Then someone hit the airlock. It opened. I don't even know how that was possible. Maybe it wasn't even them. A wall of water hit everyone and knocked us ship rocked again and we were mostly in darkness. I made it out of the airlock, I don't even know how and I just kicked off the ship for the surface. It wasn't far. Then the sunlight was stinging my eyes and Commander Tucker was pulling me out of the water onto the ship. He'd pulled lots of people out. The door was right there. I watched for people coming out to pull them up too. But after a couple of minutes of course they stopped coming. There were a hundred people in my section. Twenty two got out. Three feet of water between them and safety. Three lousy feet."

Bellamy looked at the still dark water beneath him as the guard on the airlock pulled him up and into the ship. George followed. The floor was askew. "This area is relatively level" George said as he led the way. Parts of the ship twisted completely upside down during the landing. "How many people got out?" Bellamy asked as he ducked under a bulkhead and into what was clearly being used as a mess hall or meeting space. About a dozen people were sitting round in small groups. "Nearly half of the three hundred we loaded. This section didn't get flooded and some of the sections only flooded slowly and people were able to get out."

At one end a large pot was sitting next to a stack of bowls. George ladled himself out some stew and indicated that Bellamy should do the same. It smelled good. They picked up a piece of flatbread each and George led them to a free table. People had noticed Bellamy and began to ask him questions.

He told them about camp Jaha and that Kane and Jaha were still alive and that Abby was chancellor. He told them that a group of Grounders called Mountain Men had captured some of the 100 and were jamming the radio and that they'd rescued them. He told them that as soon as camp Jaha had picked up their radio signal that he'd been sent to bring working radios and restore communication.

He left out more than he told. He didn't mention tribes or the alliance. Or the high tech bunker hidden in the mountain. Although looking at the tired faces around him, he hoped they would be joining him in the bunker. He didn't tell them about all the people he'd helped kill since he came to earth.

Once they'd eaten George took him up to the next level. Where an area had been set aside for medical treatment and patients. It was empty. Then they climbed through what appeared to be a combination of living and working areas. Until they reached an observation deck. Really it was a ladder that had been placed under a porthole that opened on to what was now the roof of the ship. When they emerged into the sun again it was beginning to set over the water. A makeshift deck with rails had been built on top, extending the useable area. Wick was working on a large pole jutting out of the top. Rigging up an antenna of some sort Bellamy assumed.

"I'm nearly done." He said. Eyeing the water around him nervously. "Have you seen it yet?" He asked Bellamy. Just then out in the water a sinuous movement caught his eye. It was large and snake-like rolling near the surface. Blue light flickered off it for a moment and it was gone. "That is Nessie, our resident sea monster. Best guess is some kind of mutated electric eel. Harmless so far." Bellamy wasn't convinced it didn't look harmless. It's body was easily as thick as a man and many times longer.

"You said one hundred and fifty survived the crash. Where are they?" Bellamy turned to face George. "People got off the Boat and headed for the shore. There was more of it above water then. You could launch yourself from piece to piece until you reached the shallows. We made camp and built a raft to go back for supplies. We didn't know how much further it would sink. The first morning and people started getting sick, vomiting. Doc's best guess was something in the water we had all swallowed. We lost some of the weak and injured in those first few days. Buried fifteen people over there." George said pointing off into the tree line just beyond the shore camp.

"Did the Grounders give you any trouble?" Bellamy asked. It was getting dark quickly now.

"Not at first, but we found some supplies in an abandoned mine shaft and sent a party to bring them in. They never came back. When we sent more men to investigate they found everyone slaughtered and a few Grounders among them. People were missing, parts of people were missing." George leaned over the side and spat into the water. "Savages!"

"Those weren't Grounders. Those were Reapers." George looked at him in confusion. What difference did it matter what they call themselves? Bellamy continued "They were drug crazy slaves of the Mountain Men I told you about. Caught and conditioned to become monsters. Monsters even their own people are afraid of."

"Why would these Mountain Men do that?" George asked unconvinced. Bellamy looked down at his hands. "Because they were sick bastards with no souls! They were prepared to do anything to anyone to survive." Bellamy looked up at George thoughtfully. It was fully dark and the sky was alight with stars and a nearly full moon shining down on them. "But you never met them. Who did you think we were when Octavia let you catch her in the woods?"

George laughed and wrapped his arms tighter around himself. "We thought you were from the City of Light. Men dressed like you showed up a few days ago. They came across the water on big boats. I'm pretty sure they were running with combustion engines. They said they'd come to take everyone to safety. The Civilian leader Doctor Ahmed and Commander Tucker had a big falling out over it. Commander thought everyone should stay until we figured out what happened to the other Arks. Ahmed wanted to get his people to safety. They made this City of Light sound like Utopia. In the end Commander Tucker defied him and said anyone who wanted to stay here could. Ahmed threatened to have him floated. But none of the Guards would do it. Not after he saved so many on that first day. Everyone with half a brain knew he was the only reason we were still alive."

The hatch opened and Georges partner climbed up. "The commander wants to see him. You and I have first watch" George nodded. Then turned to Bellamy to finish his story. "Long story short everyone who got into their boat was murdered. We saw it from here. They were just about to go over the horizon and then the boat exploded. Women, children. Most of our technical staff. Ninety seven years on the Ark. Not blowing up on re-entry. Not drowning during the landing. To go out like that. It just wasn't right."

"I still don't get it, didn't the City of light people explode too." Bellamy asked confused. "Maybe. Rex and a few others swear they saw smaller boats leaving before the explosion. I get it. It doesn't make sense. But that's what happened. Commander Tucker doesn't have much respect for Civilian opinion after that. He reckons we've landed in some sort of war zone and the military needs to run things."

Bellamy was just heading through the door when he asked George what he thought. But all he got in reply was a shrug. The Commander was waiting for him at the bottom of the ladder. Wick had finished his work and the radio was fully operational. "Your Chancellor wants to talk to you." He said, with possibly the glimmer of a smile on his lips. At the newly operational radio center Wick indicated that the operator should pass the radio to Bellamy. The Chancellor thanked him for his work but urged him to move on at first light.

After that Commander Tucker personally showed Wick and Bellamy to the sleeping quarters. There were plenty of empty rooms so they said goodnight to each other and agreed to leave at first light as the Chancellor had requested.

Bellamy couldn't believe he was back in the Ark. He wasn't sure but he thought they were fairly close to the quarters he and Octavia had grown up in. If so they were probably submerged and besides, that hadn't been home for a long time. This was an inner room. When he turned his light off he was in total darkness.

Something lapping at his ear woke him. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed into cold water. Crap! He didn't know which way the exit was. Ahead a vertical beam of light appeared as the door was slowly pushed open and she stood there silhouetted in the starlight, wet clothes clinging to her body. He stared at her. Drinking in the sight of her always serious face, the curve of her neck against her hair silver in the starlight, lingering on her nipples hard against her flimsy top. He felt a stirring in his groin.

"Come on Bellamy we have to get out." She called reaching for him with a wide open hand. He grabbed it and she pulled him through the door and into an embrace. Their bodies pressed against each other, he could feel all of her and he was sure she could feel every inch of him. She looked up into his eyes and he felt her body tremble against his then she pushed him forwards.

He put his arm around her and together they moved through the rapidly rising water. Supporting each other. The door out was in sight. He could see more stars and the full moon. Then a looming shadow appeared in front of them blocking the light.

Finn waded up to Clarke and held her by the shoulders, his face deathly pale. "We have to go back for the children." He said, pointing back in the direction they'd come from. Bellamy looked over his shoulder into the blackness. It was impossible there was no way back. Finn was going to get them killed. "No!" Bellamy growled. But Clarke was already looking between him and Finn, torn. Finn moved beyond her into the darkness and Clarke fixed Bellamy with those deep eyes. "I have to try to save them. They're innocent." she almost whimpered. But she didn't let go of his hand. They turned back into the dark cold waters, together. A long Sinuous body rolled against his legs and then ahead of them they heard a scream and thrashing as Finn went down in a dazzle of blue light. The last thing Bellamy saw before everything faded to black was the fear in Clarke's eyes.

Lincoln and the others met them at the edge of the trees as the sun was creeping over the mountain. His sister grabbed him in a bear hug. Bellamy was glad to be out in the fresh air again. To feel the cold breeze on his skin and fill his lungs with sweet air. Time to find the other two beacons and hope that Chancellor Griffin could bring the angry Commander Tucker back into the fold.


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors Note: No I don't own anything. Just playing with the characters. This is a shorter chapter but I think you'll see why I've ended it there. Enjoy.**

They hiked North towards the next beacon with sunlight glinting of the water to the west of them until they stopped for lunch. The air was cold and crisp beneath the clear blue skies. Bellamy warned against drinking the lake water but Lincoln insisted it would be okay if it was boiled first. Bill impressed them all by catching fish before the water was boiled so they lingered longer than they intended and added roasted fish to their meal. Wick talked Bellamy though how to set up the radio and they checked in with camp Jaha. The council had agreed to move everyone to the Mountain although they were leaving guards at the ship for as long as the weather allowed. Essential supplies were being moved now. Bellamy told them about the City of Light soldiers and the Chancellor assured him that she could handle commander Tucker and reminded him that the trees had ears. They would have to be careful what they said over the radio until they figured out a system for sending and receiving encrypted transmissions.

In the mountain Raven and Monty were scanning the radio searching for other transmissions. They hadn't found any yet, but it didn't mean they wouldn't. The third signal had stopped transmitting. Probably a power problem, but it made getting to the location it had been even more urgent.

For the rest of the day they walked on in relative silence. Every now and then Lincoln would point out an edible or medicinal plant to them. Stopping occasionally long enough to harvest some. He left frequently to scout ahead. Sometimes he would take Octavia. Sometimes one of the Bobs. But never Bellamy or Wick. When they stopped to rest in the evening Bellamy confronted him about it. "That one," he said indicating the direction Wick had headed clutching his toilet roll, "was not born for this world. He would not see a wolf until it attacked him. He is smart in your ways. But not in ours." Bellamy nodded, Wick was still new to the forests. Even on the ground he spent most of his time inside if he could. "You are the leader. Leaders do not scout." Bellamy had begun to protest but Lincoln had cut him short. "You are more important to your people than you know. You have proven yourself in Battle this is paramount to the people of the tribes. Word of your bravery had already spread to the Tree people before I left. The people you freed from the Mountain thank you more than they thank the commander. They expected blood for blood. Her betrayal of your people did not sit well with them. Once they learn that you Bellamy were victorious in the Mountain you will become legend." Lincoln looked at him hard. "I wish I had met your mother. A strong woman I think. Do not underestimate your value Bellamy Blake. Sometimes I don't think you can see yourself at all."

Bellamy digested those thoughts. Perhaps Lincoln meant to compliment him. But they tasted sour in his mouth. Sitting back and waiting for others to act on his behalf was not somethings he was good at. He was good at seeing what needed to be done. But he liked to lead from the front. By example. With Clarke he had been able to do that and she had remained the nexus about which their brief lives together had swirled. Now that center was gone.

On the Ark he had envied the privileged class their better accommodation and increased rations. But he'd never thought about the price they paid for the decisions they made. He'd been too angry to care about difficult, impossible choices. He'd never thought that one day he'd be the one throwing the lever. Killing hundreds. Being a leader drained him. He wanted to be free to do what the hell he wanted. But he couldn't just stop, the job wasn't done people he cared about still needed him.

He walked a short distance away from camp, dry pine cones crunching beneath his boots, and looked back over the path they had taken. Somewhere out there Clarke was running away. He still couldn't believe it. He'd never expected her to be a coward. He grew angry as he thought about her words to him before "I can't lose you too." Whatever she had meant her need was clear so he had stayed. He hadn't agreed with her and she'd eventually seen reason as he'd trusted she would. He'd been itching to get into the mountain to save his people. He'd needed to be doing something. But he'd stayed. Until she was ready to let him go. Ever since she had given him her forgivness, they had borne this burden together. But when he had asked her to stay. When he had forgiven her, when he had needed her to share his guilt, she had left. He was angry with her. He could see now that Killing Finn had changed her. She'd lost something. What would he have become if he had done the same for Octavia, or Clarke. He didn't know. Yes he was angry with her, but just now as he looked back to where she must surely be, free from this responsibility, a part of him wished he had gone too. Would he have, if she had asked? No, probably not, not without Octavia.

As he walked back into camp the others were preparing to leave. The Ben's each hoisting a spare radio pack onto the shoulders with their other gear. Wick stowing his dwindling supply of toilet paper. Earlier Octavia had asked Lincoln if there was anything they could do to help Wick with his stomach, but the grounder had nothing. Right now though Octavia's face looked like thunder and Lincoln was beseeching her to do something. Bellamy was too far away to hear what they were fighting about but in an odd way it was nice to see them argue. Bellamy liked Lincoln, but sometimes he was too perfect. How was a big brother supposed to compete. He chuckled to himself at the absurdity of that thought and picked up his gear.

That night they made camp on a ridge overlooking a broad valley. Down there somewhere was the second Beacon. When they first reached the ridge they had expected to see the ship beneath them. But instead there was a barren wasteland of metal, fallen and twisted structures. At first they'd thought the worst but they'd all realized that this was old scrap that had been left to rust for a century, maybe more. Distorted trees were growing amongst some of the twisted shapes but the vegetation was not as lush as that surrounding it. The ground here was not good. Still they ought to be able to see the ship already, Wick said the beacon was very close. Lincoln left in the dwindling light to fill their water bottles and catch game if he could. He did not think it would be safe to eat or drink anything from that blasted land and even Wick could see the truth of that.

By the time he came back they had lit a big fire, one they hoped would act as a beacon if there were survivors. Lincoln did not like it. Octavia looked at him in concern and asked him what he knew of this area. But this was further North than he had gone. The Ice Nation lay ahead and they were not friends of the Tree People. While backtracking to find water Lincoln had found fresh tracks that crossed their own. It made him uneasy. Bellamy trusted Lincoln's instincts, they couldn't unlight the fire. But they did set up their tents away from it and once they'd eaten Bill, Octavia and Ben took the first watch. Three eyes were better than two.

Bellamy fell asleep, fully dressed with boots on, listening to the crackle, hiss, pop of the fire, clutching his knife across his chest.

The firelight danced off her skin, casting shadows as she writhed in time to the beat. Around her bodies undulated to the sound of drums. She raised her arms above her head in abandon as her hips swayed before him. She smiled at him then threw her golden hair back as she laughed at the sky. Was she drunk?

Her top had risen up revealing her abdomen. No. Slender hands were roving over her skin, moving the material of her shirt, raising it above her head, exposing full pert breast framed perfectly by her upraised arms. Behind her Lexa trapped Clarke's hands in the material like rope binds and used them to spin her around. She freed Clarke's hands and then drew her into a deep kiss. Her hands sliding down the soft skin of her naked back and squeezing the blondes ass through her short skirt. Clarke swayed unsteadily.

Bellamy moved, or at least he thought he did, but instantly two large Grounders were sat beside him spears barring his path carelessly. Lexa's lips left Clarke's and she smiled at something over Clarke's shoulder. Then once again she spun Clarke to face him. Her mouth finding Clarke's neck as her head lolled to one side her eyes closed. But she was not asleep. Her palms reaching skyward her hips continued to gyrate to the beat pressing into Lexa's behind her, swaying towards Bellamy. Her eyes shot open and looked straight at Bellamy, dark and full of lust, as slim hands found their way beneath the band of her skirt. She kept her eyes on him as Lexa's fingers dropped her skirt to the ground to give them better access to Clarke's core. He watched her pink tounge lick her lips her gaze never leaving his, as beside her another grounder fell to his knees and sucked her nipple as his hand raced down her abdomen to meet Lexa's. His lips were following as she shook herself, and broke free of the them. Eyes locked with his she strode towards him like a huntress.

Her hands were in his hair. Her eyes dark with desire, as she sank down onto his lap straddling him. "Whatever the hell we want." She mouthed but it was impossible to hear above the sounds of the drums. He was painfully hard, trapped inside his clothes. She noticed. As his hands traced a path from the small of her back up into her hair and onto her breast, her strong fingers were already working on his pants. Around them people continued to writhe and sway and undress. Lexa herself was being attended by several grounders and Bellamy grew even harder watching them. Then he sprang free against the night air and his eyes shot back to Clarke's.

"Do you want me to fuck you?" She whispered in his ear. She didn't wait for an answer just lowered herself into him. After the cold of the air her heat around him sent him spiraling too close to the edge. He grabbed her hips to slow down the pace but she kept rising and falling to the increasing rhythm of the drums.

He rolled her over trapping her hands above her head as she tried to take back control. "Please." He whispered into her collarbone as the movement of her hips continued to drive him wild. "Please." He said raising his head to catch her lips in a deep slow sensual exchange. He could feel that she was close. "Please take me with you." He begged, as he released her hands to wrap his own arms tightly around her. Her fingers raked down his shoulder to his hips pulling him deeper into her. She thrust herself more wildly against him and as she clenched herself around him she demanded hoarsely in his ear. "Come with me!" And he was lost spiralling into her, losing all sense of place and time. "Yes!" He growled into her mouth as he continued to pump into her with the beat of the drums even after he was spent. He collapsed on her content, but she was shaking him. "Get up! You have to get up! Bellamy!"

"Wake up it's your watch!" The drums still thumping in his ear Bellamy sat up shakily. "Wh..what?" He stuttered disoriented. "It's your watch big brother come on." Octavia's face hovered before him in the darkness lit by a small flashlight. "What is that noise?" He asked cocking his head to the side listening for the source of the drumming.


	7. Chapter 7

Chp 7 Bellamy after the Mountain.

Bellamy took a moment to orient himself in the dark before following Octavia out of the tent into the night. The sky was clear and the heavens were on full display. The group were standing on the ridge looking down into the valley below, towards the source of the drums. He could see the relaxed smile on Ben Bob's face even in the dimming light of the fire. What was going on? Why wasn't everyone reaching for their weapons and waiting to be attacked. As he crested the top he could see a huge bonfire further down the valley. It was too far away to make out the shapes of any people around it. "What's going on there?" He asked, puffs of water vapor rising from his mouth as he spoke. Lincoln, who had his arm around Octavia, turned to him eyes alight with a levity Bellamy didn't know they could hold. "It's a wedding. Those are wedding drums. That's a wedding fire. Whoever is down there celebrating, attacking us is the last thing on their mind." Around him Bellamy noticed that his friends were all jigging slightly to the time of the music and for a moment Clarke was beside them, turning her face to beam happiness at him. Then she was gone swallowed by the night. He shook his head to clear it and Ben Bob mistook his intent. "No seriously listen to the beat. That's happy music, they're not trying to intimidate us." Even Wick joined in "Plus that would be an awful lot of firewood to waste without a good reason this close to winter." Lincoln nodded and smiled at Wick, a small surprise flickering across his face. Perhaps Wick was not as clueless as Lincoln thought.

"Not just any wedding!" A crystal clear voice spoke out of the crisp night beyond their fire. They turned as one to face the newcomer. For all his talk Lincoln's pose did shift and Octavia beside him wasn't nearly so subtle. "Who is there?" Bellamy called out, his voice thankfully steady and strong, not betraying any of the jitters he was actually feeling. "Show yourself!" The dark resolved into three shapes. A tall woman in full warrior get up was flanked by two men, the one to her left was short and square with a nose that had been broken many times and a thick beard that hid his face. He was armed. As was the man on her right, but he was no grounder. His clothes marked him clearly as someone from the Ark, or did they. Bellamy turned to face him "What station are you from?" he asked cautiously. With that the man's face lit-up into a huge grin and he covered the distance between them in swift strides. "See," he said turning to his companions, "I told you they were from the Sky, just like us." He turned back to Bellamy as he was saying "Agro Station" then stopped abruptly, his eyes flying wide. They shot between Bellamy and Octavia and then there was hope in them. "Wait, you're the Blakes, you were with the 100." His face scrunched as if he were preparing himself for a blow. Bellamy didn't understand why until he asked. "Have you seen my son, Monty? Is he okay?" Relief flooded through Bellamy's veins. He felt a lightness he hadn't realized he'd been missing. "Yes!" He said emphatically, pulling Monty's father into a bear hug that surprised even himself. "Yes Monty is alive, he's fine, he's better than fine." Bellamy could hear himself babbling and he didn't know why. He was grateful when Octavia sidled up to him and took Monty's dad by the arm and led him to Wick, "Wick get Monty on the radio, he won't mind being woken up even if he is asleep." They moved off in a flurry of excitement. Leaving Bellamy and Lincoln facing these new grounders with the Bobs at their side.

"Who is getting married?" Lincoln asked directly, more at ease. The woman smiled. "The wedding below is the joining of the Skykru with our people. We have formally adopted them into our tribe and one of their leaders is becoming second husband to our leader." Bellamy did the math in his head - the Ark's hadn't been on the ground long enough for a romance to blossom to marriage surely. The confusion must have been evident on his face because the woman saw it and snorted. "It is not a love match The Blakes, this is an alliance." There was that word again, alliance. Bellamy could only hope that this one turned out better than the last. He'd better not be the one to muck it up. He extended his open hand to her, "Hi, I'm Bellamy Blake that was my sister Octavia and these are my men Lincoln, Bill and Ben from our guard." The woman eyed Lincoln appraisingly. "This one is not from your guard. He is not Skykru." "No." Lincoln said simply, "I am not." and left it at that.

After the introductions were complete the woman, Mercury, and her companion Gruff set up their own tent close to the fire, taking advantage of the heat. Monty's father remained in the tent with the radio and the Bob's and Octavia settled down to sleep. Wick, Lincoln and Bellamy remained on guard. Although Wick had tried to convince Bellamy that there really wasn't a need for him to stay up too, especially as Gruff did not look intent to sleep. "Give them some privacy and then you can go back to bed." Bellamy told him looking towards his tent. Wick had looked wistfully at his tent and then said without thinking "I could just bunk in with your sister." If looks could kill Wick would have died then, twice in quick succession, as Bellamy and Lincoln struck him with glares like thunder. He gulped and put up his hands. "Okay" he said in a conciliatory fashion. "Raven wouldn't have minded you know." He finished trying to bluff confidence in front of the two alpha males with their hackles raised. "I very much doubt that." Bellamy retorted. "If I remember correctly she was very territorial." With that he turned and left to watch the other side of the camp. "What was that about?" Wick asked but Lincoln just shrugged and walked over to Gruff.

Bellamy stared out into the darkness towards the fire and the drums feeling like a heel. He didn't know why he had made more of his and Raven's brief interlude than there had been. He didn't even know if Wick knew about it. Perhaps he wasn't the good guy he'd been pretending to be lately. Down there grounders and people from the Ark were celebrating a peaceful alliance. He didn't know all the details but he knew these Arker's hadn't started a war trying to survive. Below him was proof that a different path had been possible. A better path?

The feeble warmth of the early sun was welcome as Bellamy stamped his feet to keep warm. In the early hours after the drums had stopped a thin blanket of frost had spread across everything in sight. It was beautiful beneath the full moon. Glinting like diamonds in the starlight. Wick had returned to bed. Bellamy was worried about him. At first he'd simply thought that Wick was inexperienced in the wild, but now he suspected something more serious was wrong with him. Every day he seemed weaker, less cocky. Bellamy might be a heel, but he was the only heel Wick had right now and he owed it to Raven to keep Wick alive.

He was startled by the sound of the Bob's behind him restocking the fire and beginning breakfast. Some look out he was. He watched them for a moment. They moved separately but in unison. A well oiled partnership. He wondered how long they'd worked together. Since childhood probably. There were not many people related to each other on the ark. Population control had been one of the first things instigated. Any two people on the Ark could share a great grandparent, but no more than that and only if their ancestors had two kids before the policy was enforced. If they'd not both been sons of sons the Bob name would have died out by now and they probably wouldn't know they were related at all. It struck him then for the first time that it was no coincidence that they'd volunteered for this assignment.

Octavia walked towards him her face grave. Without saying a word she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. His arms went around her protectively and he waited for her to be ready. He looked, but Lincoln was nowhere to be seen. Eventually she raised her head and looked up at him, tears brimming on her dark lashes. "Jasper's parents didn't make it." He squeezed her tighter for a moment. Octavia may have moved her affections to Lincoln, but she had never forgotten that she owed Jasper her life. He was one her best friends. She blamed herself for Maya's death. For getting caught. For forcing Bellamy's hand. He'd tried to convince her otherwise, but she was stubborn. "I had hoped when Monty's dad showed up..he's all alone Bellamy." He took her gently by the shoulders and made her look at him. "No he is not. We are here for him. We are his family now." She shook her head at him. "He hates us, he hates us all. You, Monty, Clark, me." Bellamy stopped her. "He doesn't hate you O. I keep telling you this. You were not in the control room. You didn't override their safety systems. You didn't pull that lever. Not you alright. He doesn't have any reason to hate you." She looked at the ground then at her hands. "When we get back you need to be there for him okay. Don't worry about me. He will come around he just needs time, but until he does just be there for him okay!" His words had meant to be comforting, but she just backed away from him silent tears streaming down her face. "I..I..I can't, she croaked, shaking her head, I just can't." Then she turned and fled into her tent, and Bellamy had no idea why. This wasn't Octavia. She never ran away. She never gave up. Bellamy was worried.

The sun was still low as they made their way down into the Valley. They walked through the twisted metal structures, some many times the height of a person. There was a path of sorts and Mercury told them to stay on it. "It's not safe in the waste." She had said, indicating the debris around them. Ahead of him Bill was talking to Gruff asking him what this place was, what it used to be. Gruff wasn't sure exactly. Legend was that this had once been a place of industry where many great machines were made, No one knew exactly what. It had taken a direct hit during the first days. Not nukes or this area would still be barren like the blasted land, but it's destruction was not an accident. Now it served as a natural barrier between them and hostile tribes from the east and north. They had lived in relative seclusion, until now.

The landscape unnerved Bellamy. Sharp shards of metal pointed at him like swords. Twisted frames awning over him threatening to fall and trap him. Broken glass shards still somehow clinging in windows threatening to fall and shatter shredding them into a million pieces. This was as close to hell on earth as he could imagine. At one point Wick made them stop. The radio signal was coming from all around them. "I don't understand it" He had muttered. "It should be right here." but wherever the signal said the ship was, it wasn't clearly. So they had continued on. They didn't stop until the sun was well across the sky and they had made it into the treeline on the other side. There they were greeted by a welcoming party of grounders and Sky people in a camp that was set up and waiting for them.

A much older woman rushed up to Monty's father and asked him if had gotten something. He took a small packet out of his coat and handed it to her. She kissed him once on the cheek in thanks and and rushed over to a fire which already had a kettle boiling on it. No the camp was not waiting for them, it was waiting for their people to return. He leaned into Lincoln. " Any idea what that was?" he asked. "Medicine probably. It would explain why they were on the other side of the waste." Of course they'd come from behind them. The tracks Lincoln had seen the evening before.

A cry came from a tent set near the center of camp. The older woman rushed into it and people around the camp tensed. "It has been a long difficult birth for this one. Three days and nights. The leaves will help bring the baby and after." Mercury was standing beside him following his gaze to the tent. But the tea was still stewing by the fire when the unmistakable sound of a newborn filled the air. All around people erupted into whoops of joy and began clapping each other on the back. The woman appeared again and went to the tea. She looked concerned and stared at it like she could speed it up. Bellamy watched as Bill stepped up to her and they exchanged words. Then he followed her inside. Bellamy looked across at Ben questioningly. "Births are kind of Bill's speciality. He attended a lot of them on the Ark, nearly became a midwife like his mum. But then he followed me into the guard." Ben chuckled. "Reckoned I needed looking after more than the babies."

Bill emerged from the tent looking worried. He rushed over to them. "I need to get a doctor on the radio. Someone needs to talk me through a blood transfusion. I've seen it done, but I don't want to mess it up." Then he looked at Ben. "You up for this?" Ben nodded and then turned to Bellamy's confused expression. "I'm O neg, universal donar, very popular in Medical me." He followed Bill who made him wait just outside the tent while Wick set the radio up. Around people were bustling trying to keep busy.

"Shouldn't the baby be crying more?" Octavia asked. Bellamy just shrugged. There was nothing he could do to help. As they waited a group of Arkers who had been talking with Monty's dad approached them and once again Bellamy found himself playing the unlikely diplomat. He had found it hard to digest everything that had happened to the people on The Boat, the ship that crashed into the water. But the story of Agro Station was far harder to hear.


	8. Chapter 8 (pls review)

**Ch 8 Bellamy after the Mountain.**

Bellamy extended his hand to the tall dark skinned man in the center of the group. Monty Senior introduced him as Councillor Jordan. He was wearing a long flowing coat over his Ark clothes which must have been a gift of the grounders. His face was a huge smile that reached all the way to his eyes and infused his entire being. "I am so pleased to meet you Councillor Blake." He said with a twinkle in his eye that betrayed the fact that the idea of Bellamy as a Councillor amused him. "I must say I couldn't believe it when Mr Monty told me who you were." Bellamy just stood and shook his hand firmly maintaining eye contact. "Jaha pardoned me personally you know?" He asserted firmly, wanting to get that cleared up straight away. Councillor Jordan chuckled, "Indeed, I was even more surprised to discover that Jaha was with your camp. I had thought he'd made the ultimate sacrifice to save his people." Wick coughed behind him and Bellamy looked at his group. They were tired from days of hard travelling and Wick looked as if he was about to fall down. "Perhaps we could share stories over something to eat?" He suggested. The councillor agreed and asked them all to join him in the largest tent once they were ready. He sent two people to show them where to put their tents.

 **He'd just finished unrolling his bed and was looking at it longingly when Octavia popped into his tent. She flopped down onto the bed forcing him to sit on the floor. "So what do you think?" She asked. " I think" he said cooly "that you are lying on my bed." Octavia sat up cross legged and looked at him earnestly. "Bellamy! Come on. Sky people and grounders living in peace. That's pretty amazing right?" Bellamy just shrugged cynically. It was all too good to be true. "Let's go eat. Is Lincoln coming?" Octavia shook her head. "No. He figured he would be able to gather more info talking to the locals. He was a spy you know, it's kind of what he does." A big smile spread across Bellamy's face and he couldn't resist. "True, but you know how easily he is distracted by a pretty face, don't you think you should keep an eye on him." Octavia shot him a steely glare, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You brother, are not nearly as funny as you think you are. Come on." With that she was up and leading the way out of the tent.**

As they moved through the camp people were sitting around fires, starting their evening meals. It was a small group maybe twenty people a mixture of grounders and Arkers, none that Bellamy recognized. They stopped at the tent where they'd left the Bob's. Wick was sitting outside looking green. He stood as they approached and Bellamy put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "Are you okay?" he asked concerned. Wick had a haunted look in his eye. "In school I had a choice, Engineering or Medical." He shook is head. "I would have made a lousy doctor." Bill stuck his head through the tent flap at the sound of their voices and came out to join them. "You did fine Wick," he said patting Wick's back. "Not good with blood" he exaggeratedly mouthed to the Blakes. "Mother and child are going to be fine, but it is good that we got here when we did. She lost a lot of blood. The medicine they were bringing helps with the clotting and.." He noticed Wick's complexion pale further and mouthed "other stuff." As he made a gesture with his hands around his abdomen which made absolutely no sense to Bellamy. "Are you coming to eat?" Bellamy asked, but Bill declined saying he needed to get Ben back to bed to lie down.' Then he disappeared back into the tent.

When they ducked into the large tent in the center of the camp it was not what Bellamy expected. He's imagined the Arabian Nights, with rich opulent fabrics, fat cushions and a feast fit for royalty. Foolish. Inside the ground was bare and a brazier had been sent up beneath a hole in the center. Part of the tent had clearly been set aside for sleeping and there was a privacy curtain of sorts erected. There was a table with benches either side and at either end two sturdy chairs. Councillor Jordan was standing close to the fire talking to a mature woman. Her face was serious and clearly this was not small talk. From her well made clothes with just that little bit more ornament than normal, to the complicated braid hanging down her back, to the way she carried herself, it was clear she was the leader here. Her face was still serious as she turned to them. At a quick gesture of her fingers and food was laid upon the table. "Come, sit." She beckoned, a polite smile lightening her expression. "We have much to discuss." Bellamy walked to the table and was suddenly paralyzed by indecision. Should he sit first, or wait until she sat. The last thing he wanted to do was offer an insult. While he hovered Octavia plonked herself down next to him unceremoniously and grabbed a chunk of bread from the center. Then she poured a drink and took a slug. The Leader laughed and sat down in one of the chairs allowing Councillor Jordan to take the other. Wick sat across from Bellamy and smiled at him wanly. And then Bellamy sat down smiling awkwardly.

"It is my great pleasure to introduce you to Breeze. She is the leader of these people and as of last night she is also my wife." Leader Breeze shot him a humorful look. "Or I should more correctly say I am her husband. It is the custom here for the Leaders to stand higher than their spouse. Fortunately I don't need to become Mr Breeze. Breeze snorted and laughed. "Now that is a bizarre custom, but do not get above yourself, my beloved," she said, but in away that made beloved sound like a title and not a term of endearment. "You are only my second husband." Councillor Jordan nodded in acquiescence. I am sorry it is easy to forget, seeing as your first husband is dead." Breeze shook her head as if addressing a child who stubbornly refused to learn the simplest of lessons. "As long as any of our children live he remains first husband." Her look implied that this explanation should settle matters.

Octavia looked between the two. "Is the distinction important?' Breeze smiled at her question as she took a piece of fruit from the table and began to eat. "For my people yes. First husband is a much higher position, they would not have accepted an outsider as easily to it. His children may claim rights of succession when it comes time to replace me, if that is their wish. While they live no child of a second husband can." Bellamy sat watching the conversation, glad not to be the one talking. Wick who was looking a little better as he drank asked. "So what is the purpose of this marriage then. Mercury said it was politically motivated." Breeze nodded. "Indeed as all the best marriages are. This union brings the Sky people here, into our clan, they have all sworn allegiance to protecting our common interests. The other clans now risk war with us if they attack" Bellamy shook his head. "That sounds great, but I don't understand, what is in it for you?" Breeze laughed and indicated to her husband.

Councillor Jordan answered him succinctly. "We have agreed to share all our technology with them, and they have agreed to share their land. We hope to thrive in this place with our new allies." Just then Bill entered the tent and sunk down next Wick. He turned to the councillor. "They are doing great, you have a healthy granddaughter. They should be well enough to move tomorrow as long as it really is only a short distance." Jordan reached out his hand and clasped Bill on the back. "Thank you. We were lucky that you were here, all of you." He said spreading his gaze across the table. He took on their stunned expressions. "Yes my friends. You arrived just in time to witness the first birth of one of our people on earth for over 100 years. We truly are home." Octavia led the congratulations raising her cup and toasting the baby and a stunned Bellamy joined in. Finally as everyone settled down to eat their food he asked the question that was burning him inside. "How did this happen. How did you achieve this peace?"

Later that night he lay in his bedroll trying to make sense of everything he had heard. It kept rattling around in his brain tormenting him. The Agro station had one hundred and four people on it when it landed. It wasn't considered the safest location, but the farmers had been reluctant to leave their crops and seeds. In the end the station had landed largely intact. Although the radio had clearly detached at some point over the waste. It had come down on the edge of a dead zone. The sand dunes clearly visible in the distance. The only guards on board were those who had stayed close to family. Aware of the hostile situation the 100 were in with the grounders, they'd set up as much of a defensive perimeter as they could. They'd sent out a scouting party to look for signs of the other Arks, but it did not return. In the meantime they had begun integrating their systems into the local water supply, ensuring the the hydroponics which had thrived in space continued to grow. Councillor Jordan had taken great pride in explaining some of the technical details to Wick who had perked up and was looking forward to meeting the Agro engineers tomorrow.

They'd encountered their first grounders on day four. The guards had wanted to put them in a holding cell and interrogate them but Jordan had convinced his people against it. They didn't know where they had landed, or whether these grounders had anything to do with the attack on the 100. He had convinced them not to react with fear but to extend the hand of friendship instead. So they had welcomed the grounders and given them a tour of the hydroponics bays, which hung with beans and vegetables and some fruits. They even had corn, which while it looked impressive had actually been in very meagre supply to feed three thousand people on the Ark. Their ability to grow food in space had been limited to what was already in orbit - mostly research crops. If the Mexicans hadn't already had a biopod in space ready for transport to Mars they'd never have been able to support such a large population. As it was they'd been stretched to almost breaking. They'd explained to their visitors that now they were back on the ground they wanted to start cultivating new crops as soon as possible.

The grounders had been impressed. They had returned to their camp, which was less than half a day away with Jordan and a small delegation. Peace talks between them had started, even before a war began. News of conflict between the clans and some of the Sky people had reached their village. Their warriors fighting under Lexa's command sent back reports. Leader Breeze, who had seen the ship and recognized it's potential for revolutionizing their food supply among other benefits had convinced her people that these Sky people were not part of that. They hadn't even been on the ground when the villages had burned, and clearly these people were not warriors. Then news had arrived that the Commander and the Sky People had a tenuous alliance against the Mountain Men. Over the next weeks the people had gotten to know and like each other. The people of the Agro station just wanted to get crops in the ground. They'd also sent out a small delegation to Camp Jaha accompanied by Breeze's warriors on the way back to Lexa.

Then news that the Alliance had broken reached them at the same time as prisoners released from the mountain. They spoke of betrayal by the Commander and that the Sky people were going to be wiped out as a result. Breeze had called Commander Lexa a few choice names at that point. Short sighted fool was amongst the politest of them. To her the benefits of working with the Sky People were obvious. She just wanted her people to live prosperous healthy lives. But now they would be in danger from the other clans so Breeze had contrived a way to bring these people back into the Grand Alliance, as part of her clan. Jordan, who had to be elevated to the position of Councillor to make it binding, had agreed. Getting his people to agree had been harder but there didn't seem to be a lot of options. They were on the edge of the a blasted land with a friendly tribe between them and the rest of the world. If they survived the eventual joining of their people seemed inevitable anyway.

Bill had been incredulous. "You got married while your daughter was in labor?" But Jordan's daughter hadn't told them. She'd begun to contract and sent Monty's dad and Mercury, who was the healer's second, to get some leaves that the healer believed would stop the labor. The baby was early. When they were not at the ceremony they'd had to continue, but search parties had been sent out. They'd discovered her here in a tent with the healer. So this is where Breeze's court had moved to for the duration. They had not been long set up before Monty returned with medicine. Thankfully Mercury had also shown him where to harvest plants that could be used to stop bleeding and hasten the after birth. Bellamy remembered that Wick had turned pale and excused himself at that point.

When Bellamy had got back to the tent Wick was already snoring. Bellamy was too wound up to sleep. He'd joined Lincoln and Octavia at a small fire near their tents. Whatever they had been talking about had stopped as soon as he sat down. His sister looked tense. "What did you find out?" He asked. Lincoln looked around to see who was nearby before continuing. "Octavia has told me what the Leader said. While it is true, it is not all the truth." Bellamy leaned in closer to listen warming his hands against the flames. "The scouting party reached this village, they sent one of their number back to report to the Argo station. He was intercepted by guards here and brought before the Leader. She had him interrogated. He did not survive. The other two went into the waste. They have not been seen since, but the Commander Lexa had already put a bounty on the head of Sky People. There was much heated discussion amongst the tribe, many wanted to collect on the bounty and curry favor with the Commander. Breeze over ruled them all at great risk to her own position. The scouts that allowed themselves to be captured by your people were a test to see if what the guard had claimed about your technology and their intentions were true." Bellamy nodded to himself. This made more sense.

Lincoln continued pouring himself a drink and offering one to Bellamy. "When they returned to their village most of those who had wanted to collect the bounty had changed their mind. But now there was fighting about the best way the tribe could profit. There were those who argued for taking it all from the Sky People by force, others who wanted to work together. Breeze's own son was very vocal about not working with the Sky people. He would probably be leader here when his mother died so his voice carried a lot of weight. He was considered a great warrior" He paused to drink.

"How did our people convince him?" Octavia asked, poking at the fire with a stick. She looked much younger by the soft glow of the flames. A log crackled and hissed as it shifted and the fire grew suddenly larger. "They didn't. He is found him in the waste impaled on a metal spike" Lincoln shook his head. "I couldn't find out the details. Everyone has a different version of events. Some blamed the Sky People, others whisper that it was his own mother. " Octavia gasped her hand going to her mouth and pretending to yawn incase they were being watched. Lincoln put his arm around her and drew her closer. "Obviously it nearly derailed the peace talks."

There are even some who think Jordan's daughter was poisoned and that's what made the baby come early. An attempt to stop the ceremony. "How significant is the ceremony?" Bellamy asked. Trying to gauge how likely the alliance was to hold. Lincoln considered how to answer this. "It would not be impossible for the clan to betray your people now. But it would put a great stain on their honor. They would be a pariah clan." He drained his cup and passed the bottle to Bellamy before refilling his own.

"No one from Agro station made it to camp Jaha. What do you think happened to them?" Octavia asked. Bellamy and Lincoln were both quiet. Finally Lincoln said. "I don't think it was in Breeze's best interest for them to reach camp Jaha. I doubt last night's ceremony would have taken place if they did." It didn't take a genius to figure out that Breeze had captured a great prize for her clan that would make them stronger in the years to come.

They'd stayed watching the fire for a while. Drinking. Octavia had gotten a little tipsy and started telling Bellamy how much she loved him and how he was the best big brother in the world. She'd hugged him before saying goodnight. Bellamy didn't like it. It felt like goodbye. He'd had enough of goodbye.

So here he lay on his bed listening to Wick snore. It was true that things here were not as harmonious as the leaders would like people to pretend, and there were plans within plans, probably on both sides, but they had achieved peace with barely any loss of life. The faces of all the dead kids who had landed in the Drop Ship haunted him. He didn't even remember all their names. All dead because of him. It had started with Adam and Charlotte, but they had been just the beginning.

He knew the truth. Of course he did. He was to blame. He'd started the war with the Grounders. When he threw Raven's radio into the river he'd set in motion a chain of events that led to flare rockets landing in grounder villages and burning them to the ground. That is what Anya had told Clarke started the war. But no. It started sooner. If he hadn't made the kids take of those damn bracelets they wouldn't have been rushing to send a message to the people of Ark that the earth was survivable. The Ark would already have known. Those three hundred lives were his burden to bear. He tallied up all the death he had caused since agreeing to shoot Jaha. More than three hundred in the Ark. Three hundred Grounders around the Drop Ship. Fifty of his people. Three hundred and eighty two people inside the Mountain. He wasn't sure about Ton D.C Clarke said they hadn't warned anyone to protect him, their inside man, but he felt that one fell squarely on the Mountain men. Still when you'd already got a thousand people killed, what difference did another three hundred make. A thousand people dead because of he wanted to live, to be free. How many widows, how many orphans. He wasn't worth it. He curled into a ball holding himself. He was a monster. His last thought before he finally succumbed to sleep was about Clarke. Was that why his forgiveness hadn't been enough for her? He wasn't worthy to give it.

It was dark and cold. A full moon lit the nightmare landscape of twisted metal spires and teeth which loomed above them menacingly. Beneath his feet broken glass crunched as he followed her through the maze. She was getting away from him. The glimpses of her golden hair getting further apart. She turned a corner and when he got there she was gone. A small boy stood in front of him weeping. "Have you seen my daddy?" He cried. Bellamy kneeled down in front of him and took the young child firmly by the shoulders. He looked him straight in the eyes and the little boy gulped back his tears and waited. "I fed your daddy to the reapers." Bellamy told him coldly. The boys face contorted in pain and wailed as angry red blisters covered his face and he fell to the ground. Bellamy stood. He needed to find her. He stepped over the small body. She had to be here somewhere. Wisps of luminous fog curled around his boot.

"This way!" Maya called from high up a building that was leaning precariously against another. He climbed up the sloping walls out of the biting acid fog which burned his bare hands. She beckoned for him to hurry her face pale and clammy looking in the insipid glow. He reached her window and climbed inside cutting his hand on a shard of glass.

The cold metal collar clamped around his neck and he was forced to the floor. He was naked. "You killed him!" Lovejoy screamed. "You killed my son." Bellamy's face was pressed into the cold concrete. His skin burned. He heard the shock lance before he felt it. Pain ripped through his spasming body and then he was standing hands around Lovejoy's neck. Squeezing. Until. His hands opened and Maya lay on the floor beneath him. Dead.

Bellamy screamed and ran. He was on the edge of a monstrous metal cliff. Beyond the stars stretched on forever. People were throwing themselves off screaming his name. A body brushed past him his mother turned to look him in the eye just before she leaped. He reached out for her too far until he too was falling into the void. Around him bodies burned as they hurtled to the earth.

"Get up!" Clarke ordered him. He was in the Drop Ship. Blood was pouring from his scalp running into his eyes, clouding his vision red. People were frantically trying to climb aboard screaming for help. "We have to close the door." She yelled as her hair was whipped around her scared face by the hurricane winds. Her flimsy clothes offering no protection from the storm.. He looked out of the door. They still had people out there trying to get into the safety of the ship. He turned to argue with Clarke but she had changed. She was dressed like a grounder her hair in braids her clothes leather straps. Hard eyes piercing him from her painted face. He put his bloody hand on hers and pulled the lever. As the door closed he saw Adam and Wells frantically trying to claw their way up the door, but they were lost outside.

"Why are you naked?" Chancellor Jaha asked him as he handed Bellamy a shiny black gun. "Because you took my clothes from me!" Bellamy screamed at him. Then he fired and kept screaming until his voice was raw and the gun was empty. Everyone everywhere was screaming. The world was in torment.

"Bellamy! Bellamy! What's wrong his sister cried out as she dived into his tent. Bellamy was sat up in sweat beading his forehead screaming incoherently. She grabbed him and held him in her strong arms rocking him gently. She crooned his name softly to him soothing him. His screams became whimpers and then sobs. Wick sat up concerned, but Octavia couldn't stand for anyone to see her brother broken like this. She snarled at him in the darkness lit only by the small flashlight she had dropped as she rushed to him. "Get Out!" Wick didn't argue.

 **She continued to rock him, holding his head tightly against her chest. Tears streaming down her face. Kissing his head. Stroking his dark curls. Telling him it was alright. She was alright. He was alright. But he continued to sob and tremble, mumbling incoherently. Bill silently injected him with a sedative. Only then did he quiet in her arms but Octavia held onto him still. How could she ever let him go.**


	9. Chapter 9

Authors note:

Sorry it's been so long. I wanted to get this finished before season 3 aired. But that didn't happen. This writing lark is harder than it looks. Once the season started I needed to put some distance between it and this story. I've written the penultimate chapter already that kept nagging at me to write. I see about four more chapters in total. This is in no way canon to season 3, some of my predictions were obviously way off base. But I wanted to finish it, because otherwise it will drive me crazy. Warning - this chapter does not have a happy ending.

Back to the story.

Next morning.

An icy breeze through the tent flap woke Bellamy. He was momentarily confused by the dark head of hair tucked into his bent arm. His head was fuzzy from last night's drinking but he was sure he'd gone to bed alone. It was just Octavia snuggling into him as she had done when she was a little girl. Had Lincoln and her been fighting? But no, he had a vague recollection of her comforting him last night. Some sort of nightmare, but apart from glimpses, he couldn't catch what it had been about. Just a sense of anger. At whom he wasn't sure. Maybe even himself.

They were alone so Bellamy assumed Wick had just left. He'd have to get up too. Soon. But for now it was nice to lay back and relax with Octavia. He liked having her close, knowing for sure that she was safe. He couldn't imagine a time when he wouldn't worry about her. Although he was sure she'd scoff at such an idea. She was so independent now.

Another cold blast of air preceded Lincoln's face at the flap. "Breakfast is ready." He spoke softly, smiling down on Octavia as he did. At the sound of his voice she stirred beside Bellamy stretching out and yawning. She stared at her brother intently for a moment as if looking for damage, and then kissed him on the cheek before following Lincoln out of the tent. Their voices quickly grew distant.

Lincoln was already on the radio to Raven when Bellamy sat next to him by the fire. He'd rigged up a makeshift antenna using scrap from the waste as far as Bellamy could tell. Nothing to report on their end, just more preparations for the move. The weather at the Mountain was even colder than Camp Jaha. A few thousand feet in elevation made a huge difference apparently. After a hearty breakfast of rabbit stew Bellamy left to find Councillor Jordan.

The large tent was already dismantled and stacked in a deceptively small bundle. A wagon was just making its way into camp, pulled by a two headed horse. All four nostrils flaring in the frigid air giving off steam like a dragon. Bellamy thought it looked magnificent like a creature out of Greek or Roman mythology. He absentmindedly wondered if he might find a winged horse. But that was just fancy. Leader Breeze's back was to him watching the wagon roll in. She spoke briefly to an Arker beside her who rushed off in the direction of the tent sheltering baby and mother.

Then she turned and smiled at him as if she had known he was there. "Good morning Bellamy." She called to him. Her smile was wider and more genuine than yesterday. It unnerved him. She walked towards him and he closed the distance to meet her. Her long brown hair hung in braids that stretched towards her waist. This morning she was wearing a simple leather tunic and pants that showed of the sinewy muscles of her arms. Without face paint he could see the faint white scars that crisscrossed the dark skin of one cheek. The morning sunshine caught her bright blue eyes making them shine. She was stunning. "How are you feeling this morning?" She enquired genuinely concerned. "I heard that there was a commotion amongst your tents last night. Someone was screaming?"

Bellamy was glad that his sister and Bill had filled him on last night's events. He still had no recollection of them, but Bill said that was to be expected with a sedative. He was uncomfortable with the whole camp knowing, but he'd been deflecting attention away from himself all his life. He cocked his head and laughed. "Who knew spiders on the ground would be so large?" He quipped his mouth twitching into his most winning smirk. Breeze nodded her head, understanding that he didn't want to talk about it and not pushing.

"Have you seen Jordan?" Bellamy asked, looking around the camp. "We need to get this radio set up today so we can head back out to look for the last ship." Breeze gestured with her hand indicating that he should walk with her. They headed towards his daughters tent, which was situated on the edge of the small clearing the camp was set up in. Her tone was friendly, "Jordan will be coming back to the village with me today, it is an easier journey for mother and child to make, besides we have important business to discuss now that communication with your people has been established." She paused for a moment and looked at him, "Do you have a radio we can use in the village also?" Bellamy nodded as he said, "I'm sure Wick can set something up once the main one is operational." Then he turned to continue walking to the tent. Breeze watched him leave for a moment and then headed to a group of her people who were preparing to leave.

At the tent Bellamy stopped, there wasn't really a post he could knock on so he just yelled a hello to the people inside. Bill's head popped out of the tent and Bellamy laughed. "Have you moved in?" Bill smiled broadly at him. "No, just checking on the patients. I think I missed my calling, I should have been a midwife." Bill's enthusiasm was infectious and Bellamy found himself smiling back despite the pain in his head.

Councillor Jordan arrived out of the tent next. He looked tired. He indicated silently to Bellamy that he should follow, and headed in the direction of the waste. Once they were a little away from camp he began to speak as the walked. " I wish you had arrived even a few days ago." He said his voice grave.

So all was not well in paradise Bellamy thought.

"We might have been able to put off forming this alliance, for a while at least." He stopped and looked at Bellamy. "Please don't get me wrong. I trust Breeze. She sees all the benefits of this alliance for her people, and she is right. We have a lot to offer each other. But we were not negotiating from a position of strength. I'm not sure how many of our people will really want to stay once they realize they have somewhere else to go." Bellamy raised a quizzical eyebrow at him and the councillor continued. "Their ways are savage. Brutal. They are not like us."

Bellamy nodded. He understood. He had heard this sentiment before. The Mountain Men could have integrated more into grounder society. They surely had plenty they could have exchanged for grounder blood in a mutually beneficial trade. But Maya had told him that many of the Mountain Men hadn't considered the grounders as true humans, but as a mutant race, worth less than real humans. This is why they'd never even considered bringing grounder DNA into their gene pool. In a few generations they could have bred their way to the surface. That apparently had been the original plan for the forty eight. Until their leaders had decided that the children of the Ark were just one more subspecies of human to be exploited for their gain. Bellamy couldn't think of Maya without guilt, gratitude and great sadness.

"Maybe not." He said finally to Jordan. "but they are not going anywhere. We have to learn to live and work together. What you've achieved here, it's our best chance at living in peace with these people. Who knows, maybe we will rub off on them." Then a thought occurred to him, what had the grounders told him about not picking up guns? The Mountain Men had controlled this region and the people in it, keeping them down, keeping them primitive. The power balance in the region was going to change, everything was going to change. Bellamy's voice was very serious. "The most important thing is getting you back in permanent contact with the Ark the sooner we get that radio up and running the better. Whatever else has happened since we all landed we are stronger working together." Jordan nodded in agreement.

Despite Breeze's earlier assertions Jordan led them back to Agro station himself. It was a half days hard march, through gently downward sloping forest, to the clearing the crashing ship had created on the edge of the tree line. Giant pines lay toppled and broken around them. Ahead the Agro station gleamed in the midday sun. The outer shielding had been retracted revealing the large glass windows that had been designed to funnel maximum light from Mar's more distant sun into the growing chambers. They glinted in the wan winter sun like jewels. Around the ship a palisade had been constructed of fallen timber. Beyond that the vegetation grew gradually sparser until in the distance Bellamy thought he could see waves, but realized they were sand dunes when they didn't move.

Once they had moved through the airlock Bellamy had the unsettling feeling that he was back on the Ark in space. The familiar machine hum was present and all the corridors and rooms looked so normal and undamaged. But his senses soon betrayed their more earthly situation. For a start artificial gravity felt different. Then there was the smell of the air. Clean and fresh, even inside, and lastly the occasional glimpse of daylight through the sparse portholes in the corridors. They climbed from the bowels of the ship up and up a winding staircase.

Once they entered the arboretum however the view outside was spectacular. A 360 degree panoramic with views of the forests, with the mountain rising behind the trees in the distance and far off to the south the large body of water where the Boat and the Arkers who survived in it lived. The Boat itself was too far away to see or perhaps it was hidden by an in-cropping of forested land. It was difficult to tell. The sand dunes continued forever to the west. North more forest and distant glints of sunshine that hinted of more lakes.

The interior was covered in lush plants growing hydroponically in tall towers that reached to the roof. Elevated walkways criss crossed the dome allowing access. He had not seen this room since a school trip as a small child. Octavia and Lincoln had gone to the village. She maintained that the Ark was no home to her and that she wanted as little to do with it as possible. But he'd have to find a way to get her in to see this somehow. He knew she would love it.

The truth was that only a small percentage of their food grew here. They consumed a lot of algae based products too. Algae was a much more efficient producer of oxygen and flourished in the water supply whether they wanted it or not. So it had been better to farm it in a controlled way. Absently Bellamy wondered what would that algae do now. Had it found its way out of these pipes and back into the lake nearby. Had it too made it back home to earth. He wondered whether it would thrive, or would a new more aggressive earth algae wipe it out after all.

Bellamy felt very tired. After lunch Wick would oversee the radio installation attaching it to a larger antenna. Once he was finished the mobile units from Mount Weather and the Ark would allow easy communication between the village and ship. Until then there wasn't much for him to do so he asked Jordan to show him to a bunk.

The rooms in Agro station were all white, or at least they had been 100 years ago. As Bellamy sat down in the stark box lit by one lamp he couldn't help wondering what genius thought that was a good idea. After taking off his boots and massaging his feet he took out his map. It was as he feared. The final beacon was somewhere in the desert beyond this ship. They were not equipped for a journey like that. His mind thought back to the automobiles he's seen in the garage where they'd found Lincoln as a Reaper. Some of those had looked pretty serious. He wondered if Raven could get one working again. Or perhaps there was something in the Armory that could help. He'd have to talk to Wick once he was finished with the radio and see what he thought. How would they even get it here?

The idea of people from the Ark stranded in the desert without food and water was deeply upsetting to him. He was actually surprised at how much he cared for those unknown strangers. People who would never have noticed him or thought about him on the Ark. Somewhere along the line the definition of his people had shifted from just the 100 he had landed with to include all the people of the Ark. He felt very protective, he wasn't going to let anyone else die if he could stop it.

But the beacon had stopped working and they had no idea if there even were survivors. It could be Mecha station all over again. But there had been a survivor even at Mecha station. Though they'd lost one to save one. That had been his fault. He was too busy worrying about Clarke and the larger group that he hadn't paid attention to the lives infront of him. He should have checked that rope. He should at least have been holding on to it. He wasn't going to make the same mistake here. Walking into the desert blind and unprepared would get people he cared about killed. They would go searching, but they'd do it smart, with a plan and with the supplies and equipment they needed.

Lunch was a big roast pig within the walls of the palisade. To go with it there were roasted vegetables and weak beer. Wick was sat at an a long table with benches either side talking animatedly to some of the people they'd met in the arboretum. A pretty blonde was laughing flirtatiously at something he's said. He looked like a king holding court. He smiled when he saw Bellamy and waved him over, but Bellamy just waved back and kept walking. He didn't feel like company. The Bens were sitting with a small group of guards, catching up on all the news. Bellamy was struck with how normal everything felt. People here were relaxed. They had plenty of food and they were not looking over their shoulders waiting for an attack. The Arker's here probably had no idea who Commander Lexa and the Mountain Men were. He liked it.

He'd hoped to eat quietly and look around but Jordan had other plans. As soon as he saw Bellamy he collected him and pulled him up onto a small makeshift platform. he picked up a hollow pipe and clanged it against a piece of metal suspended by wires from a mini gallows. The sonorous clang that rang out filled the camp. Everyone turned to look and new people poured into the space ready to listen. Jordan gave a moving speech about how they were not alone and that more people from the Ark had survived. He introduced Councillor Bellamy from camp Jaha and made a quip about his past and how if Chancellor Jaha could forgive Bellamy for shooting him and elevate him to councillor then he must be alright. It sounded forced to Bellamy but everyone laughed. Maybe it was just him who didn't find it funny. He didn't tell them that Jaha was missing. The rest of his speech consisted of a rousing endorsement for their treaty with the village, and an optimism for their future. He finished by telling them all that everyone would be issued a time to speak with people on the other Arks once the logistics had been worked out. Eventually Bellamy was able to escape the podium and all the eyes on him. One of Jordan's aides pulled him aside giving Bellamy the chance to escape.

He grabbed some food and ate on the move as he circled the camp. At the rear where the camp butted into the brush towards the desert, men were working on erecting stronger defences. Tall lookout towers were being constructed. While he watched a cart arrived hauling scrap metal from the waste. Bellamy could see places that his had already hammered and welded into panels. On the north side of the camp he found the pipes that were leading into a well that had been dug into ground. A little way off another group were using another huge drill bit and literal horsepower to drill a new hole. This bit had been found in the waste, whatever it's original purpose it's job now was to secure the ship's water supply.

He climbed the palisade and finished eating slowly. Then sat lost deep in thought until the sun began to set and fill the sky with burnt oranges and reds, even greens and purples as he watched. He hoped that Clarke was still okay out there, watching the same sunset as him. Letting her go had been a mistake. He should have insisted she came in, even if it was just to get supplies. Winter was coming, how was she going to survive alone? A part of him even hoped she had gone to Polis to track down Lexa, at least there she wouldn't be alone. She might even make some friends.

That night Octavia and Lincoln joined them for dinner on a special viewing platform in the arboretum. Jordan had invited them and Lincoln had not taken no for an answer, when Octavia objected. He asked about all the different plants and technologies involved. Octavia looked at him slightly bemused but Bellamy suspected that Octavia might have accidentally fallen in love with a sheep in wolves clothes.

Wick had filled them in on all the technical work. The station was in full contact with camp Jaha and had everything they needed to set up the radio in the village. As he spoke his skin was pale and clammy looking. Bill asked him if his stomach was still bothering and Wick just nodded and took a drink of water.

Jordan reached into his pocket and offered him some leaves from a small tin. "Here try these." he offered holding them out to Wick, who popped a few in his mouth and began to chew. Jordan took a couple himself and offered them to the others, all of whom except Bill declined. "They help with the digestion." Jordan said, "We have had some stomach problems here too and these seem to calm them down, it's a local remedy."

"Ooh!" Bill exclaimed, "It makes your mouth feel cold and…. there are no words. You have to try it Bob." He was saying as he turned to his bunk mate with a broad smile.

Across the table Bellamy watched as the color drained rapidly from Wick's face. His body convulsed once and then there was blood all over the table. Bill lunged for Wick as his body fell still vomiting and he began to convulse in Bill's arms. By the time Bellamy had reached the other side of the table Wick had stopped moving, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He didn't need the shake of Bill's head to let him know that Wick was dead.

.


	10. Chapter 10

Authors note: This is short I know. I had given Monty's mom a different name, but as I hadn't already published it seemed foolish not to change it to Hannah in this story. Just a reminder this is the story I imagined before season 3 aired. Please review if you like it. I hope my writing is improving I am listening to all your suggestions so thank you.

Octavia's hair whipped into Bellamy's face as they stood staring at the small mound of earth that covered Wick's body. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his chest for comfort. She didn't object. The shock of losing Wick so randomly after all that they had survived rattled him to his very core. He'd never felt safe anywhere on this planet, but he'd begun to lower his guard here. It was a mistake, the planet didn't want them.

The radiation might not be killing them but the plants had mutated in ways that not all their bodies were able to cope with. Abby's best guess was an allergic reaction. On the Ark she'd only read about them in books but since landing they'd become the most common ailment in her office. Wick was the first to die though. She'd asked Bellamy a lot of questions about Wick that he hasn't been able to answer, about any other symptoms. Bill had filled her in and Bellamy was shocked at how many signs he'd missed. Maybe if he'd realized sooner they could have returned to camp Jaha and Wick would still be alive.

Bill had ripped into him when he'd said it was his fault. The mild little man had used such colorful language that Bellamy had picked up a couple of new cuss phrases. He accused Bellamy of trying to shoulder too much and having an over inflated opinion of himself and his ability to save people. Then he'd made a weird reference about Bellamy wearing his underpants under his trousers just like everyone else. It had been so absurd, and the look on Bellamy's face so incredulous, that for a moment the tension had broken and they'd even laughed.

But he could still hear Raven's raspy sobs over the radio when he'd broken the news to her. He'd held her quivering body in his arms when Finn died. It tore at a piece of his heart that she was too far away for him to physically comfort her now. Raven was his family and he needed to be there for her. His arms physically ached to hold her. For now Octavia would do.

Tomorrow they would be heading back. The grounders had advised against it. They said that a storm was coming in. But Monty's dad was desperate to be reunited with his son and Lincoln thought they would be okay. Even if a storm hit they didn't last long this time of year and they could ride it out in their tents, which were far superior to anything the grounders knew about. He too had seemed very eager to move on. Something in the village had made him uneasy, but he hadn't spoken about it yet and Bellamy didn't feel like pushing it. He was sure Octavia would tell him anything he needed to know.

They stood still for a little while holding each other. They were alone, which suited them, they were used to being alone, together. Octavia squeezed him tighter and buried her face in his chest. He thought she was crying, but he couldn't be sure. All he could do was hold her until she pulled away from him, face blotchy, eyes rimmed red. So unlike her, he hadn't realized Wick meant this much to his little sister. A sudden thought flashed across his mind, was that why her and Lincoln seemed to be at odds recently?

But at that moment Lincoln appeared silently behind them and Octavia turned and buried herself in his arms instead. It was hard to know how long Lincoln had been standing there really, in this wind he could move like a ghost unheard. But he looked guilty and he couldn't meet Bellamy's questioning eyes. No whatever was up between them, Octavia and Wick had not been the cause. Lincoln gathered Octavia closer and the two of them headed away. Bellamy stayed a while longer watching the sun go down. Tomorrow they would head home, whatever that meant.

They rose at first light the next morning, frost covered the ground but the wind had died down and the rays of sunlight that reached towards them as they left camp promised a warmer day ahead. Lincoln and Octavia took the lead on a horse he had managed to trade for in the village. They carried the majority of the group's supplies so their packs were light and easy to carry. Bellamy followed with Mr Monty at his side, and the Bobs pulling up the rear, debating which of them had best earth skills.

Bellamy could not get used to calling Monty senior by his son's name, and Mr Green seemed way too formal. So they'd settled on Mr Monty, for now. Although Mr Monty still laughed when he said it. Bellamy had no idea where Monty had got his serious side from, his mother perhaps. Mr Monty was a hoot. Big smiles, bright eyes and always a ready quip or inspiring story to share. Monty's mom had been one of the 300 who sacrificed themselves on the Ark, but Mr Monty wasn't bitter.

When Bellamy had tentatively asked him about that, he'd clasped Bellamy by the arm and said very seriously. "Life is for the living Bellamy. Don't worry about the dead until you are one of them. Hannah had her reasons, I respect that. To pout about it now would be to dishonor her memory. Besides life is short, I'll see her soon enough and we can spend eternity arguing about it then. Or not!" Mr Monty had smiled and chuckled at the end as if he amused himself, or perhaps he was thinking of his wife.

That Mr Monty had loved his wife very much was clear. Bellamy wondered if he would ever find that in another person. Then shook himself for even thinking it. He planned on being a perpetual bachelor. His eyes travelled to Octavia's back as it swayed behind Lincoln's, he'd raised his family already. Octavia's head was resting against Lincoln's shoulder completely at ease. He'd bedded a few women, more since he'd landed if he was honest, but he'd never been in love. He didn't think he knew how to trust that much, to be that vulnerable. He thought involuntarily of Clarke's back as she walked away from the gate. Trust was for fools.

The journey back would be a shorter more direct route up the mountain, but not quite as high as the Mountain Men's bunker and then down into the forest the contained camp Jaha. There was no need to retrace their path. The whole journey should only take two days.

They stopped for lunch next to a small stream and Mr Monty had made everyone tea to have with their food. A hog stew from last night's dinner reheated and even tastier than Bellamy remembered. Lincoln left them to hunt while Ben set up the radio to check the reception with all the camps, and to double check that the repeater stations Wick had set up were working. Bellamy suspected that he just wanted to keep busy. Bill and Mr Monty talked plants and herbal medicine. The older instructing the younger in the proper method of steeping teas for maximum strength.

Octavia came and sat next to Bellamy as he washed up their dishes in the stream. She grabbed a mug, but continued scrubbing at it long after it was clean. The bright sunlight glinted off the burbling water causing Bellamy to squint as he turned to confront his sister.

"What's up O? And don't just shrug your shoulders at me!" He said in response to her shrug.

Octavia glanced over her shoulder, perhaps to where she thought Lincoln might be, then furrowed her eyebrows as she stared into the mug before throwing it onto the pile of clean equipment. She turned and sat on a nearby log, and bowed her head, looking at something intently by her feet, which she scuffled a few times. Finally she took a deep breath and raised her face to meet Bellamy's worried gaze. The look on her face had him reaching for her before she even spoke, but she cut him off with a raised hand and shake of her head.

"We're leaving!" She said, forcing the words out of her, as if by willpower alone.

Immediately her head fell into her hands, elbows resting on her knees. She shuddered once more and then looking up and sweeping her hair away from her blotchy face she continued before Bellamy could interrupt.

"We have to go, it's not safe for us here anymore! Lincoln says that The Commander will be sending riders out to eliminate us as soon as she finds out, if she hasn't already." A tiny sob escaped Octavia's quivering lip.

Bellamy sat still for a moment trying to comprehend what his sister was saying. She was leaving. She was in danger. And when she said We, she didn't mean him. He sat back hard on his haunches the air knocked out of him. His whole world crumbling.

The world continued to spin around them, oblivious to the tightening in his chest. Octavia laid bare everything that had be worrying her, everything that she'd been arguing about with Lincoln about. Everything that would tear his heart in two.

After the mountain Lincoln had been worried about what Lexa's next move would be. Even on the slopes of the mountain as her army was retreating he had heard mutterings about her decision to retreat. It was not the Grounder way. Blood for Blood was their way and her people wanted justice for Tondc. Many had muttered within his hearing about slinking away with their tails between their legs.

None of them had really understood what was happening to their people under the Mountain, it wasn't something Lexa had shared with her soldiers. What they'd seen was them blow up the door and breach the enemy's home. They'd been ready to fight. They'd watched in horror as people they thought were dead emerged from the mountain in a terrible condition, they'd cried for blood. And then the retreat had been sounded. They had obeyed, though it tasted bitter in their mouths.

They didn't owe the Skykru anything, but leaving an ally to fight what should be their fight, it made them angry. Even when they thought the Skykru were going to be slaughtered. But the Skykru had not been slaughtered. They'd beaten the mountain alone. The Skykru's strength made Lexa look weak.

Lincoln was convinced that the more the story of what had happened in the Mountain reached the clan leaders ears, the greater the anger against Lexa would grow. There were already mutterings amongst some that Lexa had let the bombs drop on Tondc and saved only herself. At the time those who suspected had been content to chalk it up to necessary strategy, and to take their revenge on the Mountain Men. But that revenge had been denied them, and now their anger festered unabated.

Indra had warned Lincoln in a clandestine meeting in the woods after she freed him. Lexa had faced this kind of threat to her leadership before and Indra felt sure her response would be as brutal this time. Despite disavowing Octavia, Indra cared too much for the Skygirl not to warn Lincoln. The Commander would have no choice but to wipe out anyone who could convincingly claim to know the truth of what happened in Tondc. Apparently she's already tried to have Octavia killed once to cover it up. Clarke had convinced Lexa not to try that again, but now Clarke and any leverage she had wielded was gone.

Bellamy's dark expression had become thunderous when he heard his sister's life was in danger. He had not thought his loathing for the Commander needed any fuel, but he was wrong. He burned with a fury that threatened to consume him. When Lincoln nonchalantly placed his hand on Bellamy's shoulder from behind to sit down next to him, he was startled by the menace with which Bellamy had uncoiled and turned to face him.

Lincoln backed away a step hands up. "I guess you didn't get to the part where Bellamy is the hero yet?" He asked raising an eyebrow at Octavia, trying to diffuse the situation.

But he had badly misjudged the Blake siblings mood. He would probably never understand what passed for humor between them. But the way Bellamy barrelled into him and began pounding him with his fists, was a sure indicator that now was not the time for funny. He didn't wish to hurt Bellamy so he quickly rolled to make space then planted a boot on Bellamy's chest allowing Lincoln to launch the distraught man through the air and watch has he splashed into the icy water of the stream.

Octavia had already run to position herself between them arms outstretched as Bellamy rose dripping from the water. His wet hair clinging to his brow.

"You stay away from my sister!" He yelled with a menace, pointing at Lincoln.

Octavia searched his face desperately then turned her back briefly, shaking her head. Lincoln backed away and then left stalking off into the forest, fists clenched, kicking a loose stone spinning towards Bellamy without even looking as he did so.

An hour later they were walking through a field of tall grass. Ben sat uneasily on the horse as Lincoln led them by a rope, attempting to teach the Arker to ride. His back was stiff and tense and Bellamy watched him bounce up and down with a rhythm that even to his untrained eye did not follow the gait of the horse. In front of him Bill and Mr Monty were still in deep discussion about plants, stopping occasionally to examine something, but never leaving the path the horse's passing trampled for them.

Octavia had been walking beside him silently since lunch, waiting for him to be ready to talk. Patience was a virtue Octavia had in abundance. Finally Bellamy stopped walking and turned to her. He pulled her into a big hug and whispered "I'm sorry." into her hair. She squeezed him back and then mock punched him in the ribs and turned to continue walking.

An arrow whistled through the air where Octavia's back had just been. Thudding into the ground between them with a loud Thwang. "Attack" Bellamy bellowed even as he dropped into the scant cover the high grass offered and raked his eyes over his surroundings. His knuckles turned white as they gripped the barrel of his gun, trying to control his breathing. He could see nothing but the distant trees and a sea of gently swaying grass. Octavia disappeared into that sea, body low, hugging the ground.

Then the sound of gunfire and a horse whinnying in fright filled the air. Followed by a yelp of pain and someone hitting the ground hard behind him. Bellamy turned to watch Lincoln dart into the grass following something only he could see.

A noise to the left made Bellamy's heads swing round and try to peer through the stalks. His heart was pounding in his throat his eyes darting in every direction and finding nothing and seeing nothing but grass all around. He suddenly felt like a trapped animal in a cage. A scuffling of feet, some thuds and grunts and then the softest sigh as air left lungs for the last time. Octavia had gone that way. Bellamy threw himself into the grass all thought of caution replaced by the terror that he had just heard his little sister leave the world.

A stone smacking into the back of his shoulder made him swing around gun raised. Octavia was crouched behind him in the path his panic had just created. Fingers to her lips she beckoned him to drop again and follow her. He let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding in a rasp and silently followed her back to the others, past the body of a large grounder with a red slash in his throat.

Lincoln's voice called out in the sky "Hold your fire.!" And then he appeared from behind them along the path they had made. He trotted up to them, blood on his arms and face but appearing unarmed.

"There were three of them. They had pictures of Bellamy and Octavia on them." He said pulling out the heavy paper.

"How do we know that there aren't more?" Bill asked. He was standing over the prone form of Ben, scanning the horizon nervously, while Mr Monty examined Ben's head.

"We don't! Not for sure." Lincoln answered, "But I couldn't find them and if we did miss one I doubt they'll risk attacking on their own."

Bill's jaw tightened and he rose scanning the horizon before starting to shoot into the grass around them in a sweeping pattern.

"Stop!" Lincoln yelled, "You'll hit the horse!" and before Bill could object Lincoln was running in the direction the horse had crashed through the grass leaving a clear trail to follow. Bill cursed colorfully, raising his gun into the air, and then roared spinning slowly with arms outstretched.

Octavia moved to in front of him with her arms across her chest and one eyebrow raised. When he turned to face her once more she quipped at him "Feeling better?", but she didn't wait for a reply, "Come on then, we've got a crazy grounder and a horse to follow." She glanced once over her shoulder at Ben, who Mr Monty had got to his feet, then strode off into the grass after Lincoln. As Bellamy who had moved to help support Ben watched her lead, head held high, shoulders back, he was reminded once again that she was not a little girl anymore.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's note: Thanks to everyone who is reading. Remember this was all imagined before season 3 aired. I'm just a little slow getting it finished. Nearly there. After watching last nights episode going back and double checking this one broke my heart. If only I had been right...

chp11 Bellamy under the Mountain

Lincoln's trail through the swaying grass led them to the base of a stone outcropping and what appeared to be the entrance to an abandoned mine. The sky was still clear and bright but he had begun to unload the packs from the horse. Bellamy watched Octavia walk up to him and they exchanged a brief moment of connection, holding each other's faces tenderly before she began to help him.

"We should stop here tonight." He said simply as he worked.

Bellamy wasn't in the mood to argue. He was still on edge after the attack. Carrying Ben through the grass after had left him feeling vulnerable. A defended camp right now sounded good. He was in no rush to get home if Octavia wasn't coming with him.

Mr Monty eyed the sky and looked across the landscape to where his son waited for him. Then he headed off in the direction of a copse to gather firewood. Lincoln exchanged another look with Octavia then followed him, crossbow in hand.

By the time Mr Monty returned with the wood all the tents had been popped up inside the mouth of the mine and an abandoned stone hearth repaired enough to be put to use. The Blakes had worked together, but silently. They only had one thing to talk about and neither wanted to start.

"I can still bounce the signal off the Agro Station if you want to use the radio." Ben announced. The side of his head was one large bruise. His left eye swollen and only partially open.

In the shadow of the mountain their signal couldn't travel directly to Camp Jaha as there was no direct line of sight. But now with repeater stations on the Argo and the Boat their range of communication had increased vastly. A signal to Agro could bounce to the boat and then to Mountain and finally down to camp Jaha. The world had suddenly become much smaller, thanks to Wick. His knowledge and expertise was a grave loss to the people. Bellamy only hoped that Raven would be able to hold it together long enough to pass on her knowledge to the next generation.

Mr Monty jumped for the radio and moved a short distance away so that he could talk with his son privately. Bellamy glanced at him occasionally as he constructed the fire. His face was worn and worried looking. His tone soothing. He appeared to be trying to calm whoever was on the other end down. His face grew tense and pale as he walked back to the camp.

"Kane needs to speak with you." He said holding the radio out to Bellamy.

Grounders had come to the camp looking for Lincoln. They hadn't believed he wasn't there. The Commander demanded that he be handed over to face punishment as a traitor. A small army of about fifty warriors had been left behind outside their walls. Indra was leading them. Indra had proclaimed that they would not move. Kane was audibly at a loss to be back in the same situation once again.

To Bellamy's surprise Lincoln had looked pleased when he heard this.

"She's giving us some time to leave. The main force of her command will be parked outside the base while we escape." Lincoln had explained. "Don't worry she won't attack, she'd have done it already."

Kane was relieved to hear Lincoln's assessment but his actual words passed through Bellamy without comprehension. Bellamy handed the radio to Bill who was motioning to take it and felt a lump rise in his throat as he tried to form coherent thoughts.

Finally he turned to Lincoln and asked. "Where are you going to go?"

Lincoln looked to Octavia before answering. "To the coast. Lexa will not follow us there. The boat people are not part of the 12 clans. I thought we would spend as much time as possible fishing. At least until there is a new commander."

Bellamy was surprised. "What do you mean a new Commander?"

Lincoln pursed his lips before going on as if it still made him uncomfortable to share information about the Grounders with the Sky People. But eventually he continued.

"I think the Commander has overstretched herself. She used the threat of the Mountain Men to force the tribes into this alliance. But now that they have been eliminated I don't know how she can hold them together. She will face enemies from within now. Perhaps the alliance will fail entirely and there will be no more Commanders."

Mr Monty who had stayed to listen and get the fire going sat back on part of an old tree trunk raising his hands to the fire. It crackled and hissed as it gained strength. "But aren't we the big bad now?" He asked. "Aren't we the Mountain Men?"

Lincoln looked suddenly shocked and wary. He shuffled on his spot and turned to glare at the older man. "And what exactly is it you intend to do to my people that would make you their enemy?"

Mr Monty raised a placating hand. "We don't have to do anything. All your commander has to do is plant fear of the idea that we might do something. From what I understand your people were ready to wipe out Camp Jaha just because it existed. They don't seem to need a lot of reasons to pick a fight."

The energy went out of Lincoln's body and he slumped down into himself in a way that Bellamy had never seen before. He looked defeated. Octavia approached with a pot of food to reheat and placed it above the fire. Seeing Lincoln she knelt in front of him and placed both hands on the back of his neck. Then rested her brow on his down turned head. She glared at Bellamy as if he had done something wrong. In time Lincoln uncoiled and wrapped his arms around her. Burying his head in the nape of her neck. Then he got up and walked into the mouth of the abandoned mine.

Mr Monty got up and busied himself making tea and storing plants he had collected on their trek. The two Blake's sat alone staring into the fire. As they sat watching the food Bellamy jabbed his sister's knee with his finger.

"How come you didn't ask me to come with you?" He asked picking up a dead branch and adding it to the flames.

Octavia looked at him sideways. Suddenly hopeful. "Would you come?" She asked, eyebrow cocked.

But Bellamy's expression told her everything she had already known. Bellamy wouldn't leave, couldn't leave. He felt a huge responsibility for the delinquents who had crashed to earth with him. More surprisingly she knew he felt the weight of the rest of the Skykru on his shoulders too.

Not for the first time Octavia wondered what their life might have been like if they had broken away from the rest at the very start like he had planned to. Or even later if they had both snuck away with Lincoln to the sea when he had first asked her to escape with him. Maybe if she had been able to convince Bellamy to come with them.

But even then she had known he wouldn't. Just as he wouldn't now. The irony was that it was Clarke Griffin who had started him down this path and she had left when things got too tough. For a moment she wondered if Clarke had asked Bellamy to go with her, if he would have gone if she had.

"I didn't think so." She said finally. Stoically.

He moved or she moved, but they were in each other's arms, heads buried in each other's necks, both crying. Neither trying to be brave. The pain in their chests crushing the ability to breathe into heart wrenching sobs. But for all that they were human they were also Blakes. Too soon they had regained control and sat once again stoically by the fire. Shoulders and thighs pressed together in unity, but betraying no other signs of weakness. Together.

Eventually Bellamy rose and set up some wood targets and demonstrated how to shoot. Bill looked on appreciatively for a bit and then joined in with the lesson. Showing Octavia how to stand. Bellamy went over the care of a handgun with her and dug out extra rounds of ammunition.

Bellamy had no idea how long Lincoln had been observing them from the mouth of the mine. As he stalked towards their makeshift range Bellamy was prepared for him to start objecting to Octavia holding a gun. But he lithely swung his hand low to the ground and scooped up a handgun from Bob's pack before joining them. His face grim but determined.

"I thought Grounders didn't like guns?" Bellamy asked calmly.

Lincoln snorted and spat on the Ground. "That was only a Mountain Man rule designed to keep us down and afraid. The Mountain Men are gone and I will not stay down any longer. I belong to no one but her," he said indicating Octavia. A fire lit his eyes as he continued, "and I will keep her safe."

Bellamy simply nodded and began to teach. Lincoln was infuriatingly good in very little time. But Bellamy was too glad to be very jealous. He was happy for Lincoln to be the biggest baddest dog. He was the one watching Octavia's back.

Octavia was a diligent student, but it would take many more hours of practice before she'd be deadlier with her gun than she was with her knives.

As they sat eating their last meal together as a family Bellamy and Octavia made strained jibes at each other. Lincoln and she would be heading into the mines tonight. There was no point waiting for dawn. Indra was buying them some time and they needed to make the most of it. Besides Lincoln figured it would make it easier for the horse to enter the tunnel if it was dark outside. Thanks to Lincoln's time as a reaper he knew a route through that would help them avoid most of Lexa's scouts.

When Bellamy's group reached the Ark they would tell Indra's army that Lincoln and Octavia had continued North after they reached the Last station. Indra could then tell this to the commander in good faith. Everyone promised not to speak of their true destination.

As they were parting Bellamy tried to convince them to take a radio. But Lincoln refused. They'd never be able to conceal something so large, it would give them away. Eventually there was nothing more to say or do.

Bellamy wrapped his arms around his little sister and crushed her to him. Memorizing everything about her. How tall she had grown. How strongly she was hugging him back. How her hair smelled inexplicably floral, though it looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks. When he pulled away he held her face in his hands, remembering the day he had first seen those big beautiful eyes looking up at him. His heart was broken. His thumb idly wiped away a silent tear that rolled down her cheek.

"I love you. I always will. Always. It doesn't matter what happens. It doesn't matter what you do. I will always love you. You can always come home." His voice cracked on the last word and he placed a sloppy kiss on her forehead.

"I love you too Bellamy. Always." She said, softly, placing her hands over his.

Then together, as if they had rehearsed this parting a hundred times they whispered to each other.

"May we meet again."

His hands dropped. Octavia kissed him once on the cheek then turned to follow Lincoln and the horse into the mine shaft past their tents. The darkness swallowing her disappearing silhouette too soon. But still Bellamy stood staring in the direction his heart had gone until eventually Mr Monty decided it was time to drag him away with some pretext of a problem.

That night sleep was elusive for Bellamy as he pictured Octavia walking the underworld with Lincoln. In the tent beside him Mr Monty snored loudly. He grasped an old picture of himself, his wife Hannah and a baby Monty to his chest. They looked happy. Outside the wind had picked up and Bellamy felt a chill through to his soul as he listened to it howling through the mouth of the mine chasing Octavia.


	12. Chapter 12

Ch 12 Bellamy After the Mountain.

Bellamy woke with a start, heart thumping the sound of screaming ringing in his ears. His eyes darted across the shadows in the dim light of the tent. The only sound was Mr Monty's heavy breathing, he slept on his side, rolled away from Bellamy. In the tunnel the sound of metal scraping on stone made Bellamy swing his head, ears even more alert, eyes straining.

"Shit!" Bill exclaimed softly into the night.

Bellamy donned his coat and boots and unzipped the tent flap. The cold stung his face and he gasped involuntarily at the pain of breathing in the frigid air. He carefully closed the tent as Mr Monty rolled onto his back and immediately began snoring again.

Against the bright sky at the mouth of the tunnel Bellamy could see Bill trying to start a fire. He was alone.

"Where is Ben?" Bellamy asked quietly, looking over his shoulder to see if Ben was behind him.

"He wasn't feeling well. I don't like the look of his head. I figured he should sleep." Bill's answers were short and strained. He threw down his lighter in frustration and stood to kick a loose stone against the side of the tunnel.

Bellamy took over at the fire and soon had it going. Dawn was still several hours away, but Bill should have already called him to switch watch. Something was on the older man's mind.

"What is bothering you Bill?" Bellamy asked as he looked for a canteen to make some tea.

Bill looked at him as if he were crazy for a moment. Then deciding that Bellamy had missed the blindingly obvious pointed out into the grassland. Snow lay on the ground, only a few inches thick but still falling heavily. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Everywhere was clean and bright. His first instinct was to wake Octavia, and then it hit him again. He looked back into the tunnel. I hope she doesn't miss this. He thought to himself. There would be other snows, but this was their first.

"Don't worry. Lincoln said storms this time of the year don't last long. It could be all gone by the morning." Bellamy reassured Bill and told him to sleep

For a moment he was about to wake Mr Monty but then thought better of it. There would be other snows and Bellamy wanted some time alone with his thoughts. He liked the old man, a lot, but Mr Monty really knew how to fill a silence.

He sat with his back to the fire, tea warming his hands looking out at the world. His whole life had been about protecting Octavia. That wasn't about to change now. If the Commander was a threat to Octavia, then he was a threat to the Commander. He would think of something eventually.

Not for the first time since the gate Bellamy wished Clarke was here. She'd spent more time with Lexa than anyone else. She was good at thinking out of the box and right now that was what he needed. Then it hit him, Clarke knew about the village too. In fact Clarke had escaped with Lexa, it would be too easy to make Clarke take the blame for that. Claim that she was the one who knew and tricked Lexa into leaving without warning their people. Mr Monty was right it would be easy to paint Sky-Kru as the new enemy. Clarke's life was in danger, and she didn't even know.

Where was she now? Would the snow drive her back to Camp Jaha? Where else would she find shelter. The dropship was too exposed. The only place Bellamy could think of was the bunker where Finn had murdered the Grounder with Clarke's watch. But he couldn't remember if Clarke new about it. It was mostly on their way back to camp Jaha. Bellamy decided that they would head there tomorrow after the storm broke.

But as the dawn broke somewhere behind them casting its ethereal light on the frozen landscape the snow was still falling. Mr Monty was delighted when he emerged from the tent. He ran out into the flurries and swirled around looking up at the sky with his mouth wide open. He was as giddy as a child. He wanted to get Monty on the radio straight away when he came in but Ben was still asleep and Bellamy didn't see the point in waking him.

They sat going over their supplies and deciding how long they could bunker down for in the cave. They easily had enough food for a week if they ate moderately and as long as it was snowing water wouldn't be a problem.

Bellamy was very impressed with the thermal properties of the uniforms they'd taken from Mt Weather. Though the cold bit his skin where it was exposed he remained warm enough without need for extra blankets. Wick had speculated that they were made of a smart fabric capable of converting kinetic energy from movement into electrical energy. He hadn't gotten it all worked out before he died. There were connectors inside, but none of the equipment they had with them matched up. Bellamy could feel that the inner layer was actually warm to the touch. He hadn't noticed it before, perhaps it required a temperature difference to kick in. In anycase he wasn't worried about freezing to death.

When the Bobs emerged from their tent mid morning Bellamy was glad he had let Ben sleep. The soldier looked rough and unsteady on his feet. Bill guided him to the fire and sat him down. Mr Monty rummaged through through the plants he had been collecting carefully selected a few, which honestly all looked the same to Bellamy, then began to make the injured man some tea.

Radios inside the cave did not work and they all agreed that there was no rush to contact base. It would be pretty obvious to everyone why they were delayed. Mr Monty eyed the Skyline nervously, but Bellamy was still convinced the storm would pass.

That afternoon though Bellamy and Bill had to venture out to collect more firewood. The ground beneath their boots was slippery and treacherous. It was impossible to tell where was safe to step. Bellamy fell to his knees more than once. The cold biting into his hands. Snow falling into his boots. By the time they had scrambled back into the cave they were bruised, battered cold and wet.

That evening they sat eating next to the fire, looking out at the still heavily falling snow. Trapped inside the cave with no way to escape. They briefly discussed the possibility of following Lincoln and Octavia into the tunnels. But they all knew that would be suicide.

That night Bellamy lay alone in his tent listening to Bill and Mr Monty discuss herbs and medicine. Mr Monty was describing all the different chemicals he would be able to synthesize now that they were on the ground. The medicines they'd be able to make. He was particularly looking forward to using rubber, which he was going to make out of the sap of trees.

Bill was telling him about the Mountain and all the equipment they'd found there. Mr Monty pressed him on the agriculture of the Mountain, but Bill hadn't visited that section. On the Ark it did not pay to wonder too much about where your food came from. What with everything being recycled and all.

Bellamy chuckled to himself as he heard them chatter. It all seemed so normal. But his mirth didn't last. Ben was in bed. He had gotten worse during the day. His head was hurting and his vision was off. They needed to get him to a doctor. Soon. Surely, Bellamy thought, the snow couldn't last much longer. The clouds had to empty at some point.

Sirens blared and smoke threatened to fill the corridors of the Ark as Bellamy plummeted through through them, His breathing ragged. His legs ached, but still he kept going. He had to find her before it was too late. Ahead a brief flash of dark brown hair, and a red ribbon spurned his legs to move even faster. He turned to follow Octavia around the corner and skidded to a stop, ducking just in time to avoid The Commander's bloody blade as it swung where his neck had just been. Behind her grounders crowded in full battle armour, blades glinting, he just had time to watch an archer notch his arrow before he was scrambling back around the corner.

The walls closed in around him. Dark, rough and cold to the touch. He could hear the sound of water flowing ahead and when his feet moved they splashed in water that was pooling between the rails on the floor of the mine. Behind him he could hear the reaper's chanting his name. He looked over his shoulder, the darkness of the tunnels ended in the flickering of candlelight and looming grotesque shadows approaching him fast from just around the bend. Lincoln was the first to appear eyes crazed with bloodlust.

He turned and ran stumbling through the darkness towards the sound of the water. He rounded another corner and ahead he could see light and hear the roar of water falling from an impossible height. He reached a ledge that opened up just behind a huge downward tumbling torrent. The power of which threatened to suck him into it. There was no where to go. He turned to face the Reapers as they appeared around the last corner lincoln. First Lincoln and then face painted and scarred, hair shorn into a tight fuzz, Octavia. Her teeth and nails were filed into sharp points. Her mouth bloody. She screamed and lunged for him. He tried to catch her but his foot slipped on the edge and then he was falling listening to his sister's scream for a few seconds before the force of the water pounded into him.

He blinked at the bright light overhead. He lay in the bottom of a ravine, half submerged in water. Pain seared through his muscles as he tried to move. Something butted against his thigh and he looked down to see a small pale hand. He reached for it instinctively, hope giving him renewed strength. It was clammy and when he tried to grab her the skin peeled away leaving exposed flesh and bone. He sat up screaming. Charlotte's bloated body lay in the water next to him. Eyes staring up at the sky. Then they turned to accuse him.

He screamed, she screamed, it screamed. Charlotte's still body lay floating in the water, 100ft away from him. Above her he was watching Charlotte creep closer to the edge as angry voices flowed over the ravine and down to him. Then she was falling.

Help me! She was clinging to a vine hanging over the edge of the ravine. Her blonde hair flowing beneath her as she desperately tried to hold on. She scrambled with her legs trying to find some purchase, something to climb against. Clarke was dangling directly above him. The ground began to shake and spikes erupted from the soil beneath his feet. He leapt out of the way. She looked down, eyes wide. Then her eyes locked on his and filled with hope. A noise above pulled her attention back and he watched as The Commander leaned over the edge, hand extended towards Clarke who reached for her, and then she was falling and Bellamy was staring up into the hate-filled eyes of The Commander. In one hand she held a sharp knife glinting against the sun, and in the other a braid of brown hair with a red ribbon. Bellamy's eyes left hers and travelled down to..

Bellamy sat bolt upright. Hair damp with sweat, pulse racing. He was running out of time. No one he cared about was safe until The Commander was dead. He knew there would be no more sleep for him so he dressed and relieved Mr Monty, who was greatful to seek the warmth of the tent. Bill checked on Ben and then came back to join him.

"Will Ben be able to move tomorrow." Bellamy asked concerned.

Bill shrugged first then his voice was sombre as he told Bellamy that it didn't matter if he was well enough to move, he had to be moved.

As they looked out into the darkness the snow finally began to stop. Bellamy told Bill to sleep so he was rested for tomorrow. Then he sat thinking about his dream. Clarke had taken Charlotte to the bunker, he remembered now. It was near the ravine that she had fallen into. Now he was sure Clarke would go there. It made sense, and Clarke was nothing if not sensible, too sensible. Tomorrow he would find her.


	13. Chapter 13

Authors note: I'm so sorry this took so long to update. It was just really hard to write. Really really hard. I have the final chapters already written so the next update should not be as long.

One again thank you to everyone who is readying. The writing lark is much harder than I thought it would be.

Chapter 13 Bellamy ATM

At first light the air was cold and crisp as Bellamy roused everyone from their sleep. He'd already been in touch with base camp and established that Clarke had not returned to Camp Jaha, and unsurprisingly was also not in the Mountain. Chancellor Abby had just finished an emergency surgery when she spoke to him. Her voice was tired and scared when she asked him to find her daughter. Bellamy reassured her best he could that Clarke would be okay and she knew these woods well. But the truth was he didn't feel so confident.

Mr Monty had spoken to his son while they ate breakfast. Both were anxious to be reunited, and not least because Monty had found the in-house laboratory to be very well stocked. Not just with equipment but also with tomes of textbooks and hard copies of research papers which contained knowledge that had been lost to the people of the Ark. All stored on something called a microfiche, apparently an invention of the 19th century of all things. Both men were very excited to begin working together. Mr Monty beamed with pride when he spoke of his son. It transpired that although Jasper had been the chemical genius and Monty the engineer in their little side-line, Monty was at home in a wet lab as computer lab. Bellamy was left with a niggling suspicion that maybe Monty's had not been the first generation in the "family business", simply the first to get caught. When he cautiously suggested as much the older man had wrinkled his expression into one of aghast, and then winked at him and laughed. It was good to hear laughter.

After breakfast they made a stretcher for Ben by strapping the material of one of the tents over some sawn-off redwood branches. Ben was slid into the a pocket made of the material. It wasn't especially warm but it did keep the wind out. They padded the pocket with anything insulating they could find. They'd initially planned to carry it between them, but it soon became obvious that combined with walking in the snow, that would be too strenuous, and in anycase it dragged along the ground very smoothly, with only minor modifications.

The sun was still low in the sky as they headed out. Bill and Bellamy each pulling an arm of the stretcher as Mr Monty led the way guided by his compass. That was all they had to go on now. The snow had completely transformed the forest into a new and alien landscape. It could have been another world. The branches of the trees bowed under the weight of the snow. The trunks themselves jutting out of dimples in the ground. Based on them Bill estimated that over four feet of snow had fallen. Bellamy was dubious. When they'd learnt about snow their teachers had spoken of inches of snow falling, not feet. But Bill was adamant that Bellamy simply wasn't looking hard enough and that he still needed to learn how to see. Bellamy laughed to hear Lincoln's words fall from Bill's mouth as if they were his own. Maybe his sister wasn't the only one going Grounder. Instinctively he looked round for her, then stopped and continued on, heart heavy a deep ache in his chest.

They didn't make as much progress as he'd hoped. Their feet sank into the snow knee deep sometimes deeper. Stopping for lunch after a few hours had meant a cold meal and brief rest sitting atop the remaining tent. They hadn't found any better shelter. Bellamy knew there should be a stream nearby that would eventually wind down into the ravine, but it was hidden by the snow. When they did their radio check-in Sinclair advised them not to head for the Mountain base. He said the ground was unstable and that they'd already lost some people in snow slides. They should keep heading to the lower ground and Camp Jaha. The snow there was apparently not as deep because the storm had fallen as rain for a bit before it turned to snow. There were already reports that it was beginning to melt.

They reconfigured the roping on the stretcher so that they could pull it in single file. This allowed them to step in each other's prints, which was easy on those who followed. The sky remained clear and as they walked small clumps of snow would occasionally drop from nearby branches. But apart from that the landscape was eerily quiet. The sun was low in the horizon as they reached the River. It was somewhere near here that Jasper had been speared by the grounders. The first time they had learned that they were not alone on the earth. It was only a few months, but it felt like a lifetime, several lifetimes.

It was frustrating to be so close to camp but they knew they wouldn't make it before dark. Bellamy briefly thought about making for the cover of the Dropship, but even that would be pushing it. In the end they set up camp next to the River. Bill impressed everyone by finding dry wood for the fire. He climbed down into a tree dimple and and pulled dead branches and twigs from the tree close to the trunk. Dinner was at least hot, if not particularly tasty, emergency rations from the Mountain, and they had tea to drink. Ben had slept most of the day but the swelling on the side of his head was going down and he sat with them finally enjoying the snow from the warmth and comfort of a camp fire.

When they contacted the camps they learned that Indra's army had retreated but that she and a small "delegation" from the commander had remained at Camp Jaha. She had indicated that this much snow so early was very unusual but was keeping her own counsel on what she thought it meant for the oncoming winter.

Monty was working down in the labs with Harper and had simply relayed a message that he'd speak to his dad tomorrow as he couldn't stop what he was doing right then but that there was nothing new to report.

Bill and Abby discussed Ben's condition briefly, but overall she felt that because he had stopped getting worse and was showing signs of improvement that his was a positive sign, but that he should continue to be stretchered back to camp. Ben objected to this strongly but quieted when Bill gave him a stern look that said there would be no nonsense.

As night settled Bellamy and Mr Monty sat outside the single tent that the Bob's were sleeping in watching a large moon rise above the trees. The faintest wisps of clouds obscuring it. It was still weird to look at the moon through the haze of the atmosphere. He decided he liked it. Despite the harsh weather they'd just been through he appreciated the protective layer surrounding him in a way he didn't think people who hadn't spent their whole lives surrounded by the harsh vacuum of space would understand.

He looked up towards the Mountain where baby Maya was hopefully sleeping and realized for the first time that his might well be the last generation of humans to visit space for hundreds of years. He breathed in the cold mountain air, not as harsh on his lungs as before, the smell of pine needles filling his nostrils. This is what home smelled like. That, and the musky smell of skin in the nape of a neck, and the mass of brown hair and big brown eyes smiling up at him adoringly. His heart ached, he didn't think he'd ever feel whole again.

Bellamy turned at the ripping sound behind him, he expected to see one of the Bobs emerging from the tent. The shock of the unexpected delayed his reaction long enough for the shadowy figure to throw a lit torch into the tent. The camp erupted into flames and chaos. Bellamy stepped back instinctively as the shadowy figure lunged for him out of the dark.

"Where is she?' It snarled as it pushed him off the bank and into the fast flowing river. "Where is that bitch?"

Bellamy shrieked as the icy water assaulted his warm skin. Soaking instantly through his clothes. Then a weight crashed into his chest, submerging him further into the fast flowing river. He floundered arms flailing wildly behind him as he tried to keep his head out of the water. But even as his mouth and nose broke the surface and he instinctively gasped for air a rough hand pushed his head back under.

Then he was flipped onto his stomach as he tried to pull the hand out of his hair. His face barely broke the surface.

"Where is Clarke?" The rough voice demanded again. Before dunking Bellamy back under the water.

Adrenaline running through Bellamy's veins was all that gave him the strength to plant his feet into the River bed and throw his attacker off his back, bloody hair still grasped in his hands.

Bellamy turned angry, eyes blazing ready to kill the Grounder. His eyes opened wide in shock. He recognized that uniform, that face, Emerson.

Emerson's fist connected with Bellamy's jaw throwing his head back and taking his body with it into the water.

When Bellamy surfaced there was gunfire and yelling in the air. A bullet whizzed past his face hitting Emerson Squarely in the shoulder. He spun and landed feet up in the water. Bellamy watched as the strong current took him away into the night and out of sight. Bellamy didn't think they'd seen the last of him. Some people refused to die. He should know, he was one of them.

He waded back to shore and Bill pulled him up onto the bank. The camp was completely destroyed. All they had left was the fire. Monty was applying some snow to burns on Ben's arm and face. When they turned to look at Bellamy, he could see that Ben had lost an eye to the flames.

"We need to move now!" He barked at his friends. Rattled by the encounter and filled with the need to be doing something.

But Mr Monty shook his head as he got up and walked towards him. His face serious and determined. "No Bellamy, you'll freeze to death within an hour. You stay by the fire and we move at first light, when you are dry.

It was only then that Bellamy realized how violently he was shivering. The adrenaline leaving his system he could once again feel the bite of the wet cold on his skin. He nodded and headed to the fire.

They spent the rest of the night each sat with their backs to the fire, surrounding it, keeping watch. Eventually the moon disappeared behind cloud and the night actually began to feel warmer. Then just at dawn it began to snow. Out of any other options they strapped Ben back into the stretcher. They way he quivered as they secured him was the only indication of his pain, but everyone knew from looking at his burns.

Bellamy was reminded of another time, another friend covered in burns. Then he hadn't been strong enough to offer Atom mercy, Clarke had done that. It was the first time he'd begun to realise who she really was, not the spoiled stuck up princess he had wanted her to be. As he looked at Ben a truth settled on him. He still wouldn't be able to offer Ben mercy if it came to it. He didn't have the courage it took to kill a friend.

Bill took the first turn at the front, insisting that he had at least got some sleep last night. Bellamy followed in his footsteps with Mr Monty next and Ben following in the stretcher them behind. He seemed to have passed quickly into unconsciousness for which Bellamy was grateful.

At first the snow fell softly and Bellamy thought they were going to be okay. A few hours more walking and they'd be warm and dry. But steadily the clouds above got darker and the snow began to fall so heavily that it was hard to see far into the distance. Bellamy was glad he knew this part of the forest fairly well, he'd hunted here a few times, animals were easy to pick off when they came to drink. He could follow the river until the banks began to slope up, this would take them to the Ravine, and the bunker was very close by.

The wind began to pick up about midmorning, Bellamy knew they were close to the bunker, but he was getting tired and would have stopped to rest, except there was no shelter until they reached the bunker, so they had to press on. They switched positions on the rope with Bill slipping in behind Mr Monty so he could keep an eye on Ben. Then the snow began to mix with sleet drenching their uniforms and the wind whipped everything into a white-out Frenzy, Talking became impossible as the force of the wind kidnapped every sound carrying it off to somewhere ahead of them.

Bellamy pressed on, one footstep at a time, but time itself began to lose all meaning and Bellamy became sure that they were hopelessly lost and walking in circles. At times he could barely see his own hand held up in front of him. The sleet had soaked through his clothes and his skin burned from the cold.

Blind and deaf Bellamy dragged himself through the howling snowstorm. Every fibre of his being begged him to stop and rest but he knew he could not. To stop would be to die. His leg sunk knee deep into the biting cold and for a moment he lost his balance and clung to the branch of a bowed over tree. The blood rushed through his ears as his heart pounded. He had to get up.

Behind him the rope went slack as Mr Monty caught up to him. The older man leaned in and helped the younger rise. Bellamy clung to the tree a moment longer to steady himself, definitely not resting, as his head drooped wearily. He was roused by Mr Monty pounding his shoulder and pointing into the distance excitedly, but whatever it was Bellamy couldn't see it.

A sharp tug on the rope and the shock on Mr Monty's face were all the warning he had. Instinct made him cling to the tree just as the rope threatened to drag him after whatever disaster had violently yanked Monty's dad away. The ground beneath him shuddered.

Bellamy searched the wind vainly but the cries he could hear were so faint they could be just his imagination. He tried to move forward so that he could get enough slack to secure the rope around a branch and go back to investigate but it was too heavy. Behind him three men were in danger and he was helpless even to save himself, except to cling for dear life onto a tree with increasingly numb arms.

Then for a moment the air was still and Bellamy could see down. He was standing on the edge of the ravine. Dangling beneath him were his friends. He could see the fear in all their eyes and the pleading that he not let go. Bellamy heaved again, He only needed to move a little and Monty's dad might be able to find a foothold. He was laying against the cliff at least, while the two Bob's dangled free and helpless. He tried, every sinew in his body crying out to move, but his feet slipped closer to the edge. Beneath him Monty's dad looked up and started making a motion with his hand that he didn't understand, until he did and then he felt sick to his stomach. Cut us loose he was saying. Below he could see Ben trying to climb out of the stretcher, but he was tangled in the rope.

Then the snow was back blinding him and Bellamy was alone with the howling wind and the pain in his arms. His feet and hands slipped again. He crooked his elbow around a branch slipping further back as he did and numbly reached into his boot, could he do this, kill Monty's dad and the Bobs. He could just let go, fall with them into the chasm below, maybe if there was enough snow at the bottom they'd all be okay. Yes just let go a voice whispered in his head. He held the knife against the taut rope, it began to fray against the sharp edge. Everything hurt. If he cut the rope he would be alone in the storm, he'd just be delaying the inevitable. Perhaps the only choice left was how he died.

The rope had frayed to it's last strand when the air cleared again. He glimpsed Monty's dad now swinging free, knife in hand sawing against the rope. Then the tension was released and rough bark of the tree slammed into his face and chest, knocking the air from his lungs. The remaining rope coiled loosely at his feet. The moment of shock passed quickly and then his anger and angst filled the air. He screamed until his lungs ran out of air and then filled them and screamed again. He pushed himself away from the tree towards safety but fell to his hands and knees in the snow. Get up, he screamed to himself, up. But he was too weak, so he crawled. He knew he was going to die, but not here, not where everyone would know what he had done to his friends.

He had to get away, from himself. His hair flew from his face as his slid down a bank into a deep drift of snow. It covered him head to toe his lungs screamed at him and he realized with mounting panic that he was going to suffocate. Not like this, not like this he thought as dark spots danced in front of his eyes. He thrashed his arms and legs but he couldn't free himself. He wasn't even sure which way was up. An unexpected warmth suffused his body and his last thoughts were of Octavia and just before oblivion claimed him a golden haired angel.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The cold metal of the heavy hatch door was burning against the bare skin on Clarke's hand as she held it open ready to descend once more into her dark escape. The heat of the large bright lantern she had left on top of it, just incase she became disorientated, was burning the other hand. She had come to the surface just long enough to empty one bucket, fill another with snow and throw down some logs from her dwindling supply next to the hatch.

The wind was howling in her ears whipping her hair around her face but the same wind carried his scream straight to her. She recognized his voice instantly. Climbing to the surface her eyes frantically scanned the horizon and she saw him push himself out of a tree by the ravine. He was down, barely moving, and he was alone. She dropped the lantern and scrambled forwards keeping her eyes on him and then she watched him disappear into a snowdrift. She desperately trudged through the storm yelling his name, he was so close. He had stopped moving by the time she got there, only the black heels of his boots protruding from the snow. Her arms shoveled the snow away from where she hoped his head would be with determined fear, relief filling her has her hands met his frozen curls and she cleared the snow from his face.

She couldn't tell if he was breathing so she covered his nose and breathed into him just incase. His lips frozen and stiff beneath hers. Dragging him back to the hatch took too long. The warm glow ahead pulled her forward but as she dragged him by the ankles she kept checking behind to make sure his face wasn't covered. He had to be alive, she couldn't have come this close to saving him to fail now. Surely chance had not led her to empty her pot just at that moment, only so she could watch him die. What was he doing here? Had he come looking for her?

At the hatch there was no choice but to push him down feet first. She winced as she heard him hitting the floor below. Then she followed him down, closing the hatch above her head silencing the wind. She jumped the last few feet to Bellamy's prone body and turned him onto his back. He had banged his head in the fall, or maybe before, she wasn't sure. His skin was hard and cold, too pale, his lips blue. Once again she pinched his nose and breathed into him watching his chest rise and fall with each breath. She listened for his heart beat but all she could hear was the rushing of her own blood in her ears. Her fingers traced a path along his throat but found nothing, she tried again. Bellamy remained still, eyes closed, dark lashes wet against his freckled cheeks.

He was too cold, his body like ice. Clarke began stripping his clothes without care for modesty, she needed to get him warm. Once he was naked she stripped her own clothes and dragged him towards her bed of furs and blankets. She unceremoniously pushed and pulled him, at one point heaving his backside up onto the bed with her shoulder. He was deceptively heavy for such a lithe physique. She tried desperately not to think of him as a dead weight.

Once on the bed she covered him with blankets and then crawled in next to him. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and pressed herself against his body. His skin was painfully cold and stiff against hers. She rubbed his body with hers wherever they touched. Massaging his calves with hers, rubbing his back with her palms. Pressing her chest against his. It wasn't enough he was still cold. Her lips hovered near his. "Please!" she thought as she cupped his cheek and brought her lips to his. She breathed warmth into his lungs, willing him to spring to life. She continued until his lips were warm and soft, and moved against hers, parting to allow her tongue to taste his of its own accord. His eyes flickered open and his arms held her loosely. His mouth broadened into a grin against hers as she pulled away.

"You!" he whispered, "Why is it always you?"

And then his eyes fluttered closed once more and Clarke breathed a huge sigh of relief. He was going to be okay.

As Clarke listened to Bellamy breath she knew she should get dressed, yet she couldn't bring herself to move out of his embrace. He was still cold, she told herself. But in truth now that the danger had passed Clarke had relaxed in a way she hadn't done in months. Certainly not since they had landed. Cocooned inside the furs and blankets with Bellamy, she felt completely safe. Nothing could harm her here. It was more than just the bunker. She'd spent every miserable night since she walked away from the camp here, huddled into a ball weeping and jumping at every sound from the outside. Perhaps the white noise of the storm helped. They were completely alone, no one could get to them here, now. They might as well be the last humans on earth.

With that thought Clarke snuggled into Bellamy's chest breathing in the woodsy smell of his skin, accidentally tasting the salt of his sweat on her lips. Bellamy knew her, all of her, good and bad, and she was safe with him. She would rest just a little longer and then she would look at his head wound. Finally the exhaustion of many days caught up with her, and her own soft snoring joined Bellamy's breathier sighs.

He moaned. Clarke stopped breathing for a moment and watched Bellamy's eyelashes flutter as he woke up. He groaned as he tried to sit up and fell back into the bed, before rolling on to his side to face her. She watched him silently as he raised his hand to the dark bruise on the side of his head and winced, quickly taking it away.

Clarke tried not watch as the flickering flame light danced on the curves in his skin, caressing the muscles of his arms and chest. Playing off the sharp angles of his cheeks. Reflecting in the deep chocolate stare of his eyes.

The moment passed and suddenly he was movement. Pushing the blankets away and swinging his long legs off the bed, feet landing with a thud on the floor.

"How long?" Bellamy asked, his voice raspy and dry as he held his head in his hands and looked to the down. Only then did he realize he was naked.

Clarke felt her own blush rise in her cheeks and was glad of the shadows she huddled in. Her eyes traced the taut skin over his feet following his tendons up his calves to his knees. Strong knees she thought and then laughed nervously.

His eyes rose to meet hers sharply, then softened in concern. "Are you alright?" He asked, taking in her bedraggled appearance.

She knew how she must look to him. She hadn't touched her hair with a comb since the wind whipped it around her face as she dragged him back to the bunker. Her arms were clasped tightly around her knees as she hugged them tensely to her chest, a blanket from the bed hanging loosely around her shoulders. If he could see her eyes, he knew she had been crying, hard.

For the briefest of moments after she had woken up surrounded by strong arms, legs tangled, she had been perfectly content. Whatever dream she'd left behind in the fog had been warm and pleasant. Turning her head she had expected to see Finn's face. And then, reality had come crashing in on her and sent her running from Bellamy's arms into this dark corner.

Clarke watched mesmerized as the muscles and tendons beneath Bellamy's skin moved in graceful harmony to bring him to in front of her in one fluid motion. His fingers reached out to brush strands her hair out of her eyes. His look at her earnestly concerned, but she could not hold his gaze. Her eyes dropped to his lips, which he was licking absently and then further. The thought that he was the most beautiful thing she has ever seen popped into her head as her eyes popped up to meet his.

She stammered a little. "I thought you were Finn. I forgot."

He nods. He understands. God he always understands. And then she is flinging herself into his arms, which are strong and warm and safe and He scoops her up and carries her back to the bed as she sobs into his hairless chest. He stiffens a little as he lowers her to the bed and a tiny laugh escapes her lips. He doesn't know about Finn's chest - why would he. Besides she thinks to herself, that isn't even funny and then she's back to crying.

Bellamy lowers himself into the bed next to her keeping a respectful distance. Stroking her hair, holding her back gently. But Clarke wants to be warm again. She wants to feel whole so she presses herself against him and lets him hold her tight. Rocking her gently and making soothing noises into her hair.

When she wakes up she is calm and Bellamy is gone. For one panicked moment she thinks she imagined him being there. Then she hears a shuffling by the door and turns her head to see Bellamy with his bare back to her looking down at the pile of his discarded clothes. If anything he is even more beautiful from this angle, strong broad shoulders tapering into a narrow waist, down to his tight arse, which twitches as he bends down to retrieve his pants. The noise that rips through the room is epic and Clarke snorts in laughter as Bellamy's jerks upright and turns to face her bright red, pants held loosely in front of him. And then for good measure he grins at her and farts again.

"Good Morning Clarke," he says, a mischievous grin half playing across his face, as he feels the dampness of his pants and decides to drop them to the floor once more, leaving him naked in all his glory before her.

Clarke sits up in the bed gathering her blankets around her and smiles at him as she tells him to "Put it away Bellamy, I'm not that easily impressed."

A moment of adorable doubt crosses his face as he stalks towards her and reaches out his hand before whipping away one her blankets and using it to wrap around himself.

Her squeal and scramble to maintain her decency is all it takes to put the smile back on his face as he sits on the edge of the bed.

Bellamy looks around the room for a moment taking the bunker in and getting his bearings. He had been heading for the bunker to find Clarke.

"How did I get here Clarke?"

Clarke threw Bellamy a concerned look before sliding of the bed still covered and opening a drawer under the bed. She pulled out a light blue shift dress for herself and threw some dark elasticated pants in Bellamy's direction.

Once she was dressed she reached inside her coat and pulled out a small flashlight. Kneeling in front of Bellamy's knees she shone the light in his eyes a couple of times and then whacked him on the knee with it. Bellamy's foot shot up kicking her gently.

"Sorry" he murmured under his breath. Not looking up at Clarke directly. His hands together in his lap.

Clarke put the flashlight away and picking her coat up, and draping it over a chair, before turning to him and pressing her fingers gently along the edge his bruise. Bellamy winced and pulled away slightly, at the same time grasping both her wrists as her hands continued to hover next to his face, palms open. Clarke gave him her best reassuring smile and he lowered his hands to her forearms touching her lightly but allowing her to continue her examination.

Finally she lowered her hands, allowing his own to slide down her arms until she was she was holding them in his lap. She gave them a gentle squeeze and let go, standing up.

"The good news is that you'll be fine, I'm pretty sure. Nothing is broken, everything is working the way it should." She said, in a fine imitation of a ran her fingers through her hair as she spoke, forcing her to recognize the state it was in. "It's not uncommon to lose some memory after a blow to the head like that. Sometimes it comes back sometimes it doesn't." Sitting down on the bed next to him she reached behind her for a comb and began to work on her hair. "What is the last thing you remember?"

Bellamy bent hands covering his face, elbows on his knees and drew a deep breath. They were walking in the snow. The storm was picking up and he'd just taken the lead position. He didn't know what had happened next, but from the knot in the pit of his stomach he knew it was bad.

Clarke watched a violent shiver run through his body, but before she could move he turned to her, eyes burning with pain.

"Did you find anyone else? Was I alone?" The despair in his voice caught Clarke completely of guard. She had never heard him sound so defeated. Not even in the Mountain.

She nodded, moving closer to take his hand in hers again. His eyes pleaded for the answer he already knew wasn't coming.

"No, you were alone. You were yelling. By the ravine. You fell into a snowdrift head first. I didn't see anyone else." She paused for a moment considering her next words carefully. "I'm sorry Bellamy I didn't even look. All I could think about was keeping you alive. Getting you back here. You were dying. " Her voice strained barely a whisper at the end. Finally she couldn't hold his gaze anymore and she didn't know how to ask so she just blurted out. "Was Octavia with you?"

Relief flooded her system as he shook his head gently. A tension leaving her body that she hadn't realized it was holding as an audible sigh escaped her lips. Bellamy's eyes darted to them lingering for a moment before raising to her gaze.

"Monty's dad! And the Bens" His voice croaked. Anguished.

Clarke sat back startled. Monty's dad had not been amongst the survivors she would have known if he were, and who were the Bens that Bellamy cared so much about. She opened her mouth but was silenced before she could speak by the accusation in Bellamy's eyes.

"We were looking for you!" The coldness in his voice pierced Clarke. "They were only here because I made them come looking for you!" The accusation in his voice was loud and clear. His eyes like steel, boring into her soul.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Bellamy left Clarke on the bed and stalked towards his pile of clothes, every muscle in his back taught. Tears sprang to her eyes and her chest tightened painfully. She was at a loss for words, she didn't understand what had just happened. Her mouth formed little O's but no words came to mind.

She watched as Bellamy knelt to examine a piece of rope which had frayed nearly through. He held it in both hands and then placed his balled fists into his eyes as if he could expunge the image that had formed there. Another shiver ran through his body and he stood quickly throwing the rope away as if it were a venomous snake.

Mouth open ready to speak he turned to Clarke taking in her expression, and stopped. Whatever he had been about to say forgotten. He walked towards her quickly and held out his hand to her, helping her rise to meet him.

"I'm sorry." He said simply, shaking his head. "I'm not mad at you, really I'm not. I'm mad with myself. I messed up and now people I care about are dead. Again!"

A stupid amount of relief flooded through Clarke's body. She was so on edge that even little things she used to be able to push aside completely overwhelmed her now. She still didn't have any words of comfort so on impulse she reached her arms up and wrapped them around his neck drawing him to a deep hug. This was not like their first hug, he didn't wait before wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in the nape of her neck. She could feel his fingers in her hair holding her head. She never wanted to let go.

"What are we going to do Clarke?" Bellamy murmured, his lips brushing her ear and sending an electric pulse through her body. She leaned back still in his arms and looked up at him, staring intently into his eyes.

"I don't know Bellamy, but whatever it is we do it together. Right?" She nodded at him, her voice solemn as if she had spoken a sacred vow. He nodded back in agreement but as the word "Together" left his lips it had an almost guttural quality.

Then the hug was over and they stood holding each other lightly not ready yet to break contact. Somewhere in the back of his mind Bellamy could hear his sister's voice. " Now that's something I never expected to see." Somehow he didn't think O would have approved this time. Her opinion of Clarke was at an all time low. Bellamy sighed sadly, his forehead dropping to meet Clarke's. She lifted his chin gently making him meet her eyes. "Tell me what happened Bellamy, or at least what you remember." Her voice was soft but commanding.

A sudden growling caused both of them to start suddenly. Clarke's eyes darted to the hatch, just as Bellamy placed a hand on his stomach and laughed at himself. "Don't worry Clarke." His eyes twinkled as he talked, that old wry grin she loved lighting up his face. "I don't think you have anything to fear from my stomach." Clarke relaxed and returned his smile relieved. "I will get us something to eat. You sort out the clothes. Then we will talk." Her voice was matter of fact and sure. While Bellamy laid the rest of the wet clothes over whatever he could find, Clarke moved to a wood burning stove in the corner of the main room.

On top was a large aluminium kettle, Clarke opened it and spooned something into two bowls she retrieved from a cupboard next to it. She placed them on the small table with a couple of spoons. Then she dipped two cups into her bucket of melted snow and placed them next to the bowls.

Bellamy sat down, sniffing at what appeared to be rabbit stew and watched as Clarke stood up on a small stool to reach into a high cupboard above her head. Inside were silver foil wrapped parcels. She brought one to the table and handed it to Bellamy.

On the outside it read "Complete Nutrition" in large black letters and in diagonals around the packet smaller writing proclaimed that is was irradiated in an inert atmosphere.

Bellamy looked at Clarke dubiously "This is a hundred years old. You can't be serious."

She sat down opposite him and tore open the packet. As Bellamy watched in astonishment the pale brown contents inside began to swell like a compressed sponge taking in air. Bellamy reached for it but Clarke shooed his hands away with her own. Lightly brushing against his fingertips. "Wait." She said simply.

While Bellamy watched transfixed Clarke began to spoon her stew into her mouth. Blowing it gently first. Bellamy's stomach growled again and he joined her. The warm taste of rabbit exploded in his mouth along with some root vegetable he couldn't identify. He raised his eye quizzically at Clarke.

"I didn't come here straight away. I wandered up to the Mountain first. You'd be surprised how much stuff a retreating army leaves behind." Clarke indicated a pile of Grounder gear stashed in one corner of the small room.

"Did you go inside ?" Bellamy asked, wondering how much he had missed her by.

Clarke just shook her head. "No. I couldn't." She looked down at her food and shoved the meat around her bowl for a few minutes.

Finally Bellamy broke the silence. "We found a baby in the medical section." He said speaking softly but Clarke trembled at his words. "Monty named her after Maya." Clarke shook her head sadly, looking down at her stew as Bellamy continued to speak. "She's a cute little thing. You should meet her."

Clarke's eyes shot up to meet Bellamy's surprised by the tenderness she found there.

"She's alive!" She exclaimed in disbelief. A sudden and disproportionate joy filling her body. "We didn't kill them all." She said shaking her head.

Bellamy nodded, then his face clouded over as he remembered.

"Emerson is still alive too. At least he was when he attacked us. Bill shot him and last I saw of him was floating down stream. But I wouldn't count him out yet."

Who is Bill?" Clarke asked.

Bellamy didn't answer. His throat was too tight and words wouldn't form in his mind. Gentle Bill who wanted to be a midwife and bring children into the world. Who loved the ground. He fought the urge to go to the hatch and open it. It was too late. It had been too late the moment the rope had snapped.

He cleared his throat, "We have made contact with two other Ark ships, there's a third one that we couldn't reach yet. We were on our way home from a mission to get everyone into radio contact when we were attacked by Grounders." Bellamy's voice darkened and dripped with venom over the word Grounder. "They were after Lincoln and Octavia, the Commander has put a death order on them both."

A little gasp caught in Clarke's throat at the mention of the Commander, and Bellamy stared at her intently for a moment before continuing. "Indra sent Lincoln a warning message to run and hide. She's currently waiting for them to return to Camp Jaha so she can capture them for the Commander, but I don't think she's as loyal to her leader as she used to be."

Clarke's surprise was written all over her face. "That doesn't make sense. Why would Lexa want them dead. Indra would never betray the Commander. She's fiercely loyal to her."

Clarke's tacit defense of the Commander made Bellamy very angry. Words left his mouth even before he had fully thought through what he was saying.

"Look Clarke, I don't know exactly what happened between you and her, but the Commander is set on wiping out everyone who knows she let those bombs drop on Tondc without warning her allies." Even as unshed tears moistened Clarke's eyes Bellamy continued relentlessly, his vitriol for the Commander finally finding a voice. "Not even her own people can stomach the fact that she betrayed us at the mountain. She betrayed them too. She formed that coalition to take down the Mountain men. And then when they had them surrounded and defenceless she cut a deal with them to release a few prisoners they didn't even want anymore. They offered her their garbage and she took it and betrayed everyone."

Bellamy pushed himself away from the table and got up to pace the small room, his anger filling it. Clarke looked down at her hands, still unsure of herself. He continued, "Mr Monty thinks that the only way she can hold the coalition together is to make us the bad guys, the new Mountain Men. It won't matter what we do, she will paint us as the villains to keep her people untied."

Bellamy had walked to under the hatch and was looking up at it. Intense concentration screwing up his features. "I can't believe we killed all those people, people like us that we should have been able to form a real alliance with, and now we are still at war! What was it all for Clarke? What good did it do?" His eyes dropped from the hatch to bore into hers but she was still looking at the table.

In exasperation Bellamy climbed the ladder and unlocked the hatch. The wind flung it open almost as soon as he had begun to lift it, Snow blowing into the hatch and burning his bare skin where it landed. He had to climb and reach further out, his bare torso completely exposed to the elements, long arm reaching for the hatch handle. Above him he thought he could see a clear sky hidden by the swirling snow.

Hot hands grabbed onto his bare midriff startling him as he reached. He looked down at Clarke her face desperate with worry as she pulled on him to come back down. Her mouth was moving but her words were lost to the wind. His fingers clasped around the handle and he slammed it closed with a loud clang. Ducking back into the warmth of the bunker, which now burned his skin in a different way. He dropped a few steps on to the floor next to Clark, who reached for him. Her face a mask of worry. "Hey!" he said, "what's going on? I was just checking the weather."

Clarke's voice was small as she looked up into his eyes, her hands resting casually on his chest as if she did that all the time. "I can't lose you too. I can't!" Bellamy's body tensed under her touch, the urge to kiss her filling his thoughts with the sudden desire to pull her into his arms and take her to the bed. His eyes flickered to it involuntarily. But the last time she had said those words also came back to him. He moved away from her and back to the table, putting a barrier between them.

Clarke joined him and picked up the pale brown lump that had continued to expand on the table while they talked. She ripped off a small piece and dunked it into her stew before eating it. "It's good", she indicated,"try it. It's just bread." She laughed softly taking in the look on his face.

Bellamy stared incredulously. "It's a hundred years old Clarke!"

Clarke ripped another piece off slowly, and Bellamy found himself watching her fingers deft movements as she dunked it into the soup. Her mouth opening and her pink tongue darting out to catch the moist bread. Her lips grazing her fingertips as they closed. His gaze travelled down to the curve of her neck then across her collarbone finally settling on the swell of her breasts. Her nipples were erect beneath the soft fabric of her dress.

Bellamy hastily scooped up some stew and shoved it into his mouth, keeping his eyes low, on his bowl as he did. They ate in silence after that, the needs of his stomach taking over. He only looked up from his empty bowl long enough for Clarke to offer to refill it. At the end he did take the last of the 100 year old bread and use it to wipe every last drop of stew from his bowl. It was soft and delicious. When he was done he pushed his bowl back and looked at Clarke again.

She still has some food left in her bowl and was chasing it with her bread. When her own bowl was clean she cleared the table and moved to sit on the small sofa opposite the bunk beds. Then she reached under the chair and pulled out a glass bottle. Bellamy gasped as he recognized it as the one Kane had presented to Lexa as a gift. Clarke explained, " Lexa left it behind. No point wasting it."

There was a sadness in her voice as she said the commander's name. Bellamy came and sat next to her stretching his long legs out. Clarke was staring at his toes when she felt him take the bottle. The jolt of electricity as his fingers brushed against hers made it harder for her to deny her attraction to him. But she wasn't ready to act on it yet. She wasn't sure if she ever would be. This was Bellamy after all. A fool could see how sexy he was. But as she felt the warmth of his shoulders against the bare skin of her own she realized how much she had come to depend on him. She trusted him. She trusted him in a way she didn't trust anyone else alive, he had never betrayed her.

Bellamy swung the bottle to his lips and spluttered as the fiery liquid assaulted is oesophagus. "I'm not surprised she left it behind." He laughed handing the bottle back to Clarke. The glass was still warm from his lips as she sipped gingerly.

"What happened in Tondc Clarke? Lexa wants Octavia dead because of it." Bellamy asked his voice somber. "Octavia said..,".

But Clarke cut him off before he could speak. Her voice quivering "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Bellamy turned to face her, his arm absently landing on the back of the chair behind them. So it was true, he thought. Clarke had lifted her knees to her chest again, clutching the bottle in front of them. She took a huge swig from the bottle and didn't even gasp as it hit the back of her throat. The let her head droop. Bellamy wanted to be angry, he really did, and deep down inside he knew he was. But confronted with Clarke like this, his nurturing instincts prevented him from raging.

"Why?" He asked hollowly.

Clarke lifted her forehead from her knees and turned to look him straight in the eyes, her own glistening with tears.

"I did it to save you!"

She handed him the bottle and he took it mechanically without thinking and drank.

"I was weak." Clarke said, almost as if she was talking to herself, or someone else, not him. "I am weak. I couldn't lose you too. Not again!"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Bellamy rose from the chair, putting as much distance between himself and Clarke as the small room would allow and turned to face her. His lips trembling, eyes wide.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I didn't ask you to do that. Hundreds of people died. I didn't need you to do that! " Bellamy spat the last words at Clarke, searching her face. "For God's sake at least tell me you would have warned Octavia if you had seen her?" Bellamy demanded, waving the bottle at Clarke.

Clarke looked at him not dropping his gaze. She planted both feet on the floor and pushed up from the seat, her shoulders back, squaring off in front of him. He took a step back. "Octavia took me to the Commander. I didn't tell her anything even when she asked me what was wrong." Clarke held her chin up, her eyes defiant. Only a slight tremble in her voice betrayed her. "I left your sister there to die!"

Clarke breathed heavily, but did not break eye contact with Bellamy. For a moment she thought he was going to smash the bottle against the wall. Finally, eyeing her the entire time, he took another long slug.

"You were the key to everything Bellamy. If you had died we would have all died. Including Octavia and everyone in the Mountain." Clarke's voice was cold and under control.

"So you let a bomb drop on a Grounder Village with our people in it. Who gave you the right to make a decision like that for us?" Bellamy asked, the calmness in his voice betrayed by dangerous set of his jaw. "Don't tell me you actually started to believe you were in charge?"

"I was in charge!" Clarke hissed, pointing her finger at Bellamy. "After you went into the Mountain who else was supposed to be in charge, my mother?" Clarke raised her eyebrow incredulously, " She didn't have to guts to do what needed to be done, and I didn't know if I would ever see you again, but I had to try."

Clarke reached across the space between them and snatched the bottle out of his hand. She took a long swig and turned her back on him for a moment, composing herself. When she turned back her face was softer, but more conflicted. "I didn't want you to go into that mountain, remember? I thought you were going in there to die. For nothing".

"Then why did you tell me to go?" Bellamy shook his head at her, voice cracking with emotion.

"Because you were right, we needed an inside man. Because I was being weak. Because love is weakness." Clarke shrugged her shoulders and turned and walked to the bed sitting down on it heavily. Putting her head into her hands and running her fingers through her hair.

Following her Bellamy scooped up the bottle and drained the last drop, before throwing it onto the chair. He remembered her saying something like that to him before.

"Love is weakness?" He said towering over her, "Love isn't weakness Clarke. Who told you that? What is it even supposed to mean? I trusted you Clarke. I believed in you. And you left my sister to die. You betrayed me."

Clarke looked up at him through dark lashes wet with unshed tears. "If I had warned everyone then The Mountain Men would have known we had a spy inside. They would have started hunting you. I couldn't let you die. We needed you to disable the acid fog."

"Crap Clarke!" Bellamy's voice was harsh. "I knew as soon as you rode off to warn everyone my cover was blown. It was only a matter of time before they came looking for me anyway. I killed one of their guards. It's a small place, he had a kid. His family were going to miss him soon enough. Why did you even ride over there if you weren't going to warn anyone."

A then it dawned on him who she had ridden off to warn. Who she had asked to see as soon as she arrived. The Commander. Rage filled him.

"So Octavia was right. You and the Commander had a thing. Jesus Clarke I thought you were heartbroken over Finn, your lover, your friend, and that was why you couldn't lose me too. But you were already banging someone else?" The disdain in Bellamy's voice was like a whip striking at Clarke. "She killed Finn."

Clarke shot up from the bed unsteadily and had to grab onto Bellamy's arms to stop from falling back. "Finn killed himself. I did my best to save him. I loved him. But I wasn't in love with him." Clarke reached up to touch Bellamy's cheek. She stroked it gently for one moment before pushing him away from her with both hands.

"That's why I couldn't go back into camp Bellamy. You're the one I couldn't face. Not when I knew you would find out what I did to save you. To save us. What I did." Tears were streaming down Clarke's face as she faced the demon she had been running from.

"When I started riding all I could think about was warning everyone. But I started thinking. They would have figured out you were there Bellamy. I wanted to buy you some more time. I was hoping Lexa would have some clever idea for getting everyone out and not giving you up. But she didn't." Clarke threw her hands up in the air. "It wasn't easy to justify not warning people because of the bigger picture. But that's what Lexa told herself, that's what she told me."

Clarke wrung her hands. Bellamy didn't know if he'd ever seen her do that before. "If that was really why I did it, I could live with myself. But it's not true. That's not why I left your sister there to die. Why I nearly killed my own mother."

Bellamy looked at her bewildered only really understanding half of what she was saying. He grabbed her shoulders and pleaded with her to make him understand. "Why?"

"I let them all burn to save you! I could not bear it if I was the reason you died. Not when there was something I could do to save you." Clarke said, the fire leaving her as she slumped back onto her bed, dragging bellamy who was still clutching her shoulders down onto the floor in front of her.

"But O?" He said quietly.

She looked up at him and placed both her hands on his cheek again. "I chose you. Turns out I can't live with that either."

Bellamy didn't know what to say. He leant back forcing her hands to drop and stood. He walked away, back to the chair and sat down. He thought for a moment and then said. "So Octavia was wrong when she thought there was something between you and Lexa?"

The look on Clarke's face declared that it wasn't that simple, but he was too tired to ask. As he sank into the chair, the effects of the alcohol were catching up with him. It was strong. Stronger than he was used to. He leant his head back onto the cushion and closed his eyes to think. Clarke was crying on her bed. Should he go to her? Did he want to?

Bright sunlight hit his eyelids making the world turn red. He opened them cautiously. He was alone in the bunker, cold winter light streaming through the open hatch.

The ground above was covered in sparkling ice crystals that dazzled as they crunched between his toes. He could see her footprints clearly leading towards the ravine.

The tree stood in stark contrast against the cloudless blue sky. There was something dark lying in the snow beneath its bare branches. Bellamy bent to pick up Mr Monty's wallet. Inside he found the faded picture of the once happy family.

Clarke's scream filled the air. His heart pounding he lunged the last few steps to the edge of the ravine and looked down.

Below him the white room was packed with cages. They lined the floors and walls and hung from the ceiling. Harsh lighting cast sharp shadows that loomed and retreated as if pulsing with a life of their own.

"Bellamy!"

He looked to the right. Octavia rattled the bars of her cage. Her face flooding with relief as he turned to her.

"Get us out!"

Clarke's voice made his head whip to the opposite side of the room. She was in a larger cage with some of the delinquents. He could see Raven sat in a corner cradling Murphy's bloody head in her lap. Monroe appeared to be tying something around his thigh.

The sound of heavy breathing echoed through the chamber. A shadow appeared on the wall behind the Delinquents. Large horns and snout with a hunched back. The sound of hoofs echoing from everywhere at once.

Bellamy crouched low, back pressed against the cold rock wall, eyes darting around the room looking for the Minotaur. Monroe screamed. Clarke's cage was swinging, door open. Empty.

He ran to Octavia's cage and kicked it open. She flung herself into his arms. "We have to get out of here." She hissed at him when he turned to search for the others.

"No! I have to help them." Bellamy insisted. "I can't leave them here to die."

A guttural roar filled the room and Bellamy looked below. What was left of Murphy dangled upside down from the top of one cage. Clarke was standing on top of it still reaching out her hand as if to grab him. In the wall behind them he saw a sliver of light and knew it was their route to escape. He couldn't see Monroe or Raven.

Octavia grabbed his arm and urged him to come with her. He followed. Below he could hear the monster sniffing, looking for his prey. Off to one side he heard a tiny clanging noise. The monster lurched and Monroe screamed. The sound of flesh ripping apart made Bellamy retch. He fought to control his body. To stay silent.

Once they reached the opening in the wall Bellamy realized it was a large glassless window. On the ledge were rows of parachutes. Octavia was already scrambling into hers.

Bellamy turned mouth open ready to call. The sound strangled in his throat as it constricted in fear. The Minotaur was standing with its back to him close enough to touch. He could feel the heat coming of its body its own breath loud and raspy. It was watching his friends struggling to save themselves. Clarke was desperately trying to pull Miller up onto a cage, but only one of his arms was moving.

He looked over his shoulder at Octavia. She was struggling with the straps. She needed more time. He was too afraid to move, certain it would bring the monster down on her.

His eyes darted back to the Minotaur, who was unhooking a evil looking crossbow from its back. It took a pace away from him and closer to his friends. Sizing up a target.

Bellamy started, barely suppressing a Yelp, as Octavia's arms reached around him fastening his own parachute safely onto his back. She pulled him towards the edge.

The arrow was aimed straight at Clarke. He knew it was. She'd spotted a hole in the ceiling and was climbing towards it. She just needed a few more minutes to escape. He could yell out and distract the monster.

Octavia tugged on him urgently and he looked at her. His sister. The drop below them was long. They'd be easy targets on the way down. If he yelled now they'd both be dead before they hit the ground. Skewered with a giant arrow. The image of Octavia dying like that flashed through his mind. He shook it off. He was not going to let that happen.

He silently tried to get Octavia to jump, but she wouldn't leave without him. He looked back.

Clarke was nearly there, her hand reaching into the opening. The arrow tracked up to her, and flew from the bow with a sickening twang.

Bellamy screamed as he watched it tear into her chest, blood spurting from her mouth as she let go of the chain and fell.

The Minotaur swung to face him, yellow eyes filled with insane rage and raised its bow.

Octavia jumped and he jumped after her trying desperately to shield her body with his own. The wind rushed up to meet him but he still heard the arrow coming before it tore through his back and out of his stomach. As he watched his bowels explode away from his body, below him he saw Octavia drop into the safety of the trees.

The ground rushed up to meet him. Black.

Bellamy sat bolt-upright from the chair a sheen of sweat covering his body. He was cold. On the bed Clarke had fallen asleep. He was stroking her face before he even realized he had moved. Just a dream. The vision of Clarke falling was seared into his brain. Just a dream. An uncontrollable desire to be sure she was okay overtook him and he shook her hard to wake her. She rolled onto her back, red blood blossoming on her chest from the massive wound.

Bellamy sat bolt-upright from the chair a sheen sweat covering his body. He was cold. On the bed Clarke had fallen asleep. He sat there for a few moments trying to calm his breathing, before shakily making his way over to her.

He brushed blonde hair away from her face and sighed in relief. She was fine. Breathing softly. But still he found himself touching her chest gently with his fingers, just to be sure. Then he climbed on the bed behind her and pulled a blanket over them both. He encircled her in his arm, holding her warm body tightly against his own. With his face buried in her hair he quietly cried himself to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 Back to the Breach.

The cold breeze woke him. Clarke was fully dressed on the ladder opening the hatch quietly. The door landed in the snow with a dull thud. She was dressed mostly in Grounder clothes. Was she running again? With that thought panic filled him. He didn't want her to leave. He needed her to stay. He was about to call her name when she looked over her shoulder at him and smiled wanly.

"How are you feeling this morning." She asked, dropping back to the floor and examining his scalp with deft fingers. She avoided his gaze keeping her eyes resolutely in his hair. Her fingers stayed there too, perhaps a moment longer than strictly necessary.

The cold air bit into his bare skin. Combined with Clarke's touch it sent a shiver down his spine, that he couldn't suppress. Clarke misunderstood and quickly stepped back her hands leaving his head as if burnt by a flame. Bellamy stood and grabbed her wrists. He waited until she looked up at him. Her eyes big blue pools of hurt. He could feel her need to escape but he didn't care.

"You're forgiven." He spoke the words softly and waited. The chill breeze raising goose bumps on the flesh of his arms and chest.

She continued to look at him, first in question, then relief flooded her face. Her lips quivered and Bellamy fought the urge to cover them with his own. There were still so many unanswered questions.

"Where were you going?" He asked, eyes raised to the hatch.

Clarke looked over her shoulder as if just suddenly realizing it was open and then back to Bellamy's bare skin. She broke from his grasp and raced up the ladder. He was right behind her as she reached out for the door and pulled it closed. They were plunged into momentary darkness as their eyes adjusted once more to the low light in the bunker. Bellamy's arms pinned her as she turned on the ladder to face him. His breath hot on her face. His body was so close she swore she could feel his heart beating. But it was just her own thumping wildly in her chest.

"Radio!" She squawked, and cursed herself inwardly. She regained her composure as he stepped away from her. "I tried to wake you but you were out cold. I was worried. I thought maybe you might have dropped one."

Bellamy reached a long arm between them and plucked at her Grounder coat eyebrow raised.

"It's warmer." She said defensively. Then shook herself as if remembering who she was and flung her hair over her shoulder. "Besides," she smiled doing a slow twirl, "I make it look good."

Bellamy couldn't disagree. It was fastened below her breasts, making it very hard for him to look at it, without looking at them. He coughed and walked over to retrieve his own clothes. Clarke's eyes followed him and he could feel her gaze as he stripped and redressed. In another time and place he would have made a flirty comment and flashed his grin. But not with Clarke, not here, not now. He wanted her he realized, but he needed her friendship more. Besides….

They trudged through slush towards the bare tree that marked the ravine where his friends had died. Bellamy couldn't believe how close they'd all come to surviving the storm. He'd learned the lesson a long time ago but it hurt no less now. Life was not fair. Death was too constant a companion, too greedy, taking good people before their time and leaving the likes of him behind. He stopped to look under the tree, but the wallet was not there. Just wishful thinking.

"How do you want to do this?" Clarke asked, looking down at the drop. She'd begun securing a length of rope to the trunk while she spoke.

Bellamy hadn't thought this far ahead. No one had tried to collect Charlotte's body. They had just left her below to rot. He shook his head in shame. Wells would have found a way.

"Are you okay?" Clarke stepped towards him raising her hand as if to examine his head again. But Bellamy stepped back.

"I'm fine!" He said gruffly continuing to back off. Then stopped allowing her to close the distance between them. "I was thinking about Charlotte." Bellamy was surprised by the momentary look of confusion on her face that lasted longer than he would have expected. But then, her ability to live in the present was one of her strengths.

Clarke looked along the tree lined edge of the ravine. In places streams of meltwater had created small waterfalls, all cascading into the river below. "She fell over there." She said pointing off into the distance. Bellamy looked at her, and after a moment she corrected herself. "She jumped over there." Bellamy nodded. Clarke would know.

"So," Clarke said, visibly shaking herself, "lower me over the edge and I will see what I can see?" She raised her eyebrow as if it was a suggestion, but they both knew it was more. Bellamy braced himself against the rope, rough fibres digging into his bare hands and Clarke began to climb down. She didn't have to go far before she came to an overhang. She yelled up at bellamy to give her some slack, then swung herself over the edge. Bellamy's heels digging into the hard soil as he took her full weight for a moment.

Below the overhang there was a large ledge with a small bush and sparse grass. From there she had a clear view of the water rushing about fifty meters below. She could see some equipment scattered on the nearest bank, but no bodies. The climb down didn't look too difficult with the help the rope.

Bellamy insisted on coming down despite Clarke's concerns about his head. The equipment all seemed to have come from one pack that had broken free from the sled as it fell. The larger radio was busted. The thought of Wick making a joke about Bellamy trying to fix it flashed through his mind unbidden. It hurt. Unconsciously he searched his pocket for the necklace he had taken from Wick for Raven. It was still there, perhaps she would add it to the sculpture Finn had made. The need to get back to comfort her, to all his people tugged at him. Safe within the pack was a smaller handheld radio. It was dead but might still work once the battery was charged. If that was what was wrong with it.

They searched along the bank on their side in both directions but there was no other sign of Bellamy's friends. As they walked Bellamy talked about them, just loud enough to be heard over the roar of the river. Clarke listened quietly, sensing his needed to fill the emptiness with his memories of them alive, for as long as there was hope. Her heart ached with him at the memory of finding Mr Green and the rest of the Farm Station. She remembered how it felt the first time she had seen her mom alive, back from the dead. Monty would never have that. There was no question of trying to cross the river. It was wider and more violent than either of them remembered seeing it.

They had stopped to rest before turning back for the second time and watched as a large boulder on the other bank had tumbled and crashed into the water only to disappear wholly beneath the frothing surface.

On the way back Clarke actually laughed when he told her about Lincoln trying to teach the Bob's how to See The World around them. Her voice tinkling in a way he didn't know it could. It reminded him of Octavia. Bellamy trusted Lincoln to keep them both safe and to get her to Luna's protection. Not being worried about her when she was so far away felt strange to him. Clarke reassured him that Octavia could take care of herself, and he knew it to be true, but still. After Bellamy told her about the peace that had been brokered by the farm station they both walked in silence. Thinking of what could have been, should have been. He turned once to ask Clarke about this thing with Lexa, but her face was drawn with the pain of her own mental hell. It could wait. He wanted to take her hand, to give it a reassuring squeeze, but he couldn't. When they finally returned to the ropes the orange sun was low in the sky.

As he looked up at the climb ahead Bellamy asked. "You don't suppose they somehow made it?" But Clarke's eyes confirmed what he already knew in his heart. His friends were dead, their bodies consumed by the river. He swallowed, and was silent for a moment before nodding and taking hold of the rope.

The ascent was tough. His muscles ached as he hiked his leg over the top and rolled away from the edge. He took a moment to catch his breath the cold air assaulting his lungs. When Clarke failed to appear he crawled to the edge and looked over. All he could see was the slope of the rocks, punctuated by the occasional tree clinging to the face of the ravine. Beyond them the woods spread out. He couldn't see the river but he could hear it thundering past beneath him. Had she fallen, was it right now sweeping her away from him?

"Clarke!" He called out, his voice desperate.

Her voice came swiftly from beneath the overhang. "I'm okay. Just catching my breath." But Bellamy could hear the strain. Something was wrong. Bellamy looked at the sun beginning to set. The air was getting colder quickly as it became darker. He rolled onto his stomach and got to his knees before standing and taking hold of the rope.

"Hold on," he yelled, "and I'll pull you up." He braced himself against the trunk of the tree. Once he could feel the weight of Clarke on the other end he began to pull. His arms and legs burned and his head began to throb, but he kept his hands moving on the rope in a steady mechanical pace. Focusing on pulling her up, he could not let her fall again.

The rope went slack and sent him tumbling onto his back knocking all the air out of his lungs. He must have cried out because Clarke answered him with an, "It's alright I'm here." Then she really was there crawling over to him. As he got to his knees. He flung his arms around her and pulled her into a tight bear hug, burying his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of her like a drowning man gasping his last breaths of air.

"I thought I'd lost you." He said pulling away at last. Then he sobbed, "I couldn't pull them! up." Clarke grabbed onto him again pulling him back into a bear hug. She murmured soothing words into his ear and held him until she felt his breathing returning to normal. His panic attack over.

"Help me up?" She said finally. Only then did Bellamy register that she was injured. A bandage was wrapped around her thigh. Bellamy looked at her quizzically. "You should see the other guy!" She said jokingly, but when she saw Bellamy's eyes dart to the edge in alarm she realized he was still too on edge and calmed him with a touch. "Joking."

Bellamy looked abashed for a moment and then his eyes flashed with anger. "Why didn't you call out?" Bellamy asked as they got to their feet. His big brown eyes actually seemed hurt.

Clarke looked at him for a moment. "You were nearly at the top. I didn't want you to come back down for me." Bellamy's eyes asked her why, so she continued defensively. "I can handle myself Bellamy" He shook his head at her brow furrowed. The right words for how wrong that sounded to him not forming in his head. "Quit complaining," Clarke scolded him, "I let you pull me up didn't I." Bellamy just looked at Clarke with a mixture of mirth and frustration. She drove him crazy in the best possible way and he had no idea whether the feeling was mutual or not.

"How bad is it?" He asked eyeing the distance back to the bunker. Normally he'd have gone for the heroic carrying her in front of him approach, but the throb of his muscles was letting him know that wouldn't be an option. He didn't think Clarke would appreciate being thrown over his shoulder like a sack of rations, but it would be much easier. That's when it occurred to him, before she could answer his first question he asked. "How did you get me back?"

Both of them looked at the distance that Clarke had dragged him over. All up hill. Snarly roots and fallen branches covering the path they had made. Clarke had no idea how. At the time she hadn't even thought about if she could get him back. She'd just known she would.

"Thank you." Bellamy said quietly. He had died here. His last thoughts had been of his sister and his failure. The vision of Monty's father below him sawing through the rope sailed in front of his eyes. "Thank you." He whispered remembering the frayed rope back in the bunker "I'm sorry." Mist rose in front of him as he spoke.

Clarke's hand leaning on his shoulder brought him back to the present. He looked at the rope tied to the tree. It was giving away their position but he wasn't sure he had the strength to pull it up. It would be dark soon. He could go back for it in the morning. Clarke reached down and picked up a large stick and began walking back to the bunker. He caught up with her in a couple of steps and circled her waist with his arm for support. She didn't acknowledge him, but she didn't object either.

The air around them was still, it was as if the world was holding its breath. Neither of them spoke in the twilight. The only sound was of their footfalls and breathing. The only warmth where one's body touched the other. The door rang like a bell as Bellamy closed the hatch above them.

Below Clarke shrugged out of her coat and relit some more of the candles and brought them to the low table next to the chair to give her more light. She winced as she bent to untie her boots. Bellamy knelt in front of her unlacing them as she watched. Clarke's face was pale but determined not to sure weakness. Bellamy had a hard time with reconciling this reserved woman with the feisty passionate person he knew. Not the first time he wondered what had happened to her while he was in the mountain.

Her fingers trembled slightly as she began to unwrap the makeshift bandage she had torn from the bottom of her shirt. When Bellamy raised his hands to help she shrugged him away with a mumbled "I can do it."

Bellamy sat back on his haunches studying her for a moment. "You don't have to do this all alone." He said finally. Clarke just raised her eyes at him and that's when he realized. "You're still not coming back with me are you?"

Clarke lowered her eyes to her leg and continued to remove the fabric. It has already begun to clot and in places the torn shirt she had used was stuck to her skin. From what Bellamy could see it was a long gash but not very deep. "Stitches?" He asked. Clarke looked at it for a moment pushing the skin together in places, barely wincing before nodding.

"I don't suppose there is a med kit in that bag?" She asked eyeing the recovered backpack.

Bellamy pulled the bag over and rummaged through it. He pulled out a small green bag and handed it to her. Clarke's eyes lit up as if she had received a Christmas present. She unzipped it and lay it flat on her lap. She smiled broadly. And pulled out a tube.

"I need hot water" she told him, indicating towards the stove.

As he moved to light the stove Clarke began to shimmy out of her trousers. He was about to ask how, when Clarke told him to turn the knob on the left all the way right. The stove roared into life. It was a modern marvel. He turned to Clarke to ask how it worked, but she cut him off. "Can you put the bandages on the shelf into a pot of water please, not too much, I don't want to waste it." As he worked he could feel air above the stove been sucked up into a chimney he hadn't noticed before. Bellamy shook his head at Clarke. It didn't make sense. "There's no power. How does it keep working?" He asked.

"There's a manual." She said. "You can read it later if you get bored, but basically it's a passive system, all to do with the way the ducting in the bunker is designed." Her fingers were still rummaging through the kit. She pulled one tube out and read it and then a second. Bellamy watched her re-read them each twice.

"What is it?" Bellamy asked. Clarke looked at him her eyes sparkling. "Magic, if you believe what's written on these labels." Once the bandages had boiled for 5 minutes Bellamy gingerly scooped them out onto a clean plate and placed them in front of Clarke. She waited a few more minutes before using them to clean her wound. Her hands trembled as she began to pull the shirt fabric from the wound and Bellamy stopped her. His hands were cleaner anyway. Clarke watched tight lipped and pale as he finished the job. "What next?" he asked as he looked at the angry wound that seemed to have gotten worse with cleaning and was bleeding again.

Clarke gulped, "I need you to hold the wound together while I glue it!" Bellamy looked at her like she was crazy, but she just held out the tube. "That's what it says. If it doesn't work we can go back to stitches."

"Are you sure, that tube is 100 years old." Bellamy asked incredulously.

Clarke nodded, then showed him how to hold her skin together. Her blood trickling over his finger into the bed his nail as he did. Then she cracked the tube and traced the line of the wound with a clear sticky liquid. The blood flow stopped instantly on contact, and bellamy tried to press the pieces of her torn flesh together as neatly as he could.

"What now?" He asked hands still firmly pressed against the soft skin of her upper thigh.

He looked up at her and leant back as he realized how close their faces were to touching.

"You need to hold it like that for a couple of minutes and then we move to stage two." Clarke's voice was breathless, no doubt from the pain. She licked her lips as she raised her eyes to look straight into his.

"I can't go home." She said suddenly. Before Bellamy could voice an objection she pressed on. "As long as I am there Lexa will never see my mother or Kane as the leader of our people. She will always seek me out." Clarke lowered her eyes to look at her wound again, placing both of her hands over Bellamy's as if to help keep them still. The warmth of her touch seeped into him, creating a yearning in him that was new and different. Something more than just desire. She raised her eyes to look at him again. "I don't want to be in charge anymore. I never did."

Bellamy nodded. He understood that at least. He couldn't go back to leading alone, but they didn't have to. "We are not alone anymore Clarke. We did it. We survived until help came. We are with our people now. They need us."

Clarke shook her head, her eyes brimming with tears. "I can't. Besides, Lexa wants me dead too, or did you forget?" Bellamy was thoughtful for a moment, Clarke hadn't been mentioned in Indra's message. Clarke broke the silence, her voice hard. "I trusted her Bellamy. I thought, I thought I meant something to her. She left me to die."

Bellamy gripped Clarke's thighs involuntarily and she winced, making his hands fly off her leg without thinking. His eyes shooting up to hers in apology, hers replying that it was okay.

"Well that seems to be holding." Clarke said over enthusiastically. Then eyeing the second tube, "Lets see if this works too."

Bellamy watched in amazement as Clarke sprayed her leg, the wound disappearing beneath an opaque layer that was probably meant to be skin tone, but looked grey against her pale thigh. When she was done he took the spray from her hand and read the label. "Liquid Skin." The small print claimed it was "Water impenetrable after 30 minutes." "Allows natural skin to regrow." "Naturally antibiotic."

"No stitches then?" Bellamy said placing the tube back in Clarke's hands. Clarke shrugged and then smiled at him in that small way he swore she reserved just for him.

"I don't know, my pants aren't going to regrow themselves." She said, picking up her trousers and sticking her hand through the rip.

"That I can fix." Bellamy said standing up. "But first food." He moved over to the cupboards.

Clarke watched as he rummaged through the supplies. He ripped open two more bread packets and set them aside to rise. Then he pulled out the desiccated meal rations from the retrieved backpack and added warm water to them. When he was done he helped her rise and sit at the table. Honestly her leg didn't hurt that much anymore. The analgesic in the glue was doing it's job, even after a hundred years. But she liked the excuse it gave her to accept Bellamy's gently guiding hand on the small of her back. The way she could wrap her arms around his waist and feel their skin pressed together beneath the thin fabric of their shirts.

As she had watched him work the urge to blurt out how much she enjoyed being alone with him was overwhelming. She needed to get a grip. She would not allow herself to go down that road again. Not after Finn. Not after Wells. Not after her father. She'd loved exactly three people in her whole life and they were all dead. If she thought about it she knew that part of the reason she was still angry at her mother was for protection. Hers or Abby's she had quite figured out.

But this was more than just superstition. Lexa had warned her that the people she loved could be used against her. Just as her Costia was. Lexa had already insinuated that Clarke had feelings for Bellamy. She'd been quick then to deflect the commanders suspicions. Instinctively wary of the Lexa's motives for prying. Did everyone know, she wondered. She hadn't, not until they'd spent this time alone. She still didn't know, not really. It was all very confusing.

Wellington Jaha had been the first boy to kiss her. She had thought they'd put it behind them, they'd been so young. Raven claimed that he had been in love with her, that's was why he followed her to the ground. Clarke had been oblivious if it was true, she'd just seen him as a friend, her best friend. Then there was Finn. Those first few days on the earth had been terrifying, and exhilarating and so freeing. The Finn she had fallen in love with seemed like a fantasy now. The earth had broken his spirit and mind, she had killed his body. Lexa had forced her to do that.

Bellamy watched Clarke's hand shake as she raised the spoon to her mouth. He'd been silently watching her eat. Wondering if she would start talking about the Commander again. They needed to figure out how to deal with the threat from the Grounders. He needed a plan that would make Octavia safe again, so she could come home. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Clarke shook her head and dropped the spoon. One fat tear escaping her lashes as she did. "I was thinking about Finn, about what I did." Elbows on the table she buried her face in her hands for a moment. "I was thinking about Wells, we were best friends our whole life you know. I never had a sibling but I imagine it's maybe a bit like that." Clarke didn't see Bellamy's skeptically raised eyebrow. Her eyes were on her spoon again. Her fingers absently pushing it from side to side. "I killed them."

Her eyes shot up to his challenging him to tell her she was wrong. He tactically chose to remain silent and let her continue. "Wells only got himself locked up so he could come to earth with me, so that I wouldn't be alone. Like you did with Octavia. He didn't even know I was mad at him, that I blamed him for my dad. I treated him like a shit."

Bellamy reached across the table to still her hand. "You are wrong!" He waited for Clarke's eyes to reach his. "Wells made his own choices, he made his own fate. He didn't deserve what happened to him, but it wasn't your fault. I gave Charlotte the weapon, not you. I've thought about this a lot. What happened to them both haunts me. I think she watched you helping Atom. That's where she got the idea for how to kill him, but that's it. I'm the one who told her to slay her demons, I'm the one who armed her. I didn't know she was dangerous. I'm sorry."

Clarke couldn't believe it. Bellamy was apologising to her for Wells death, and he meant it. "You couldn't have known.." She began, but he cut her off with a raised finger.

"I could have. Do you know why they sent her to lock up? She murdered three people!" Clarke's mouth dropped open in shock. "I got Raven to look up her records, I wanted to remember her. Her parents took the fall for the first two, they had access to the poison she used. There was no one to take the fall after they were gone though. They found her social worker stuffed into an air vent." Clarke shook her head in disbelief. Sure Charlotte had seemed damaged, but then who in the SkyLocker wasn't.

"The grounders killed Finn. You saved him from lingering pain, just like you did Atom." Bellamy ignored the shake of Clarke's head and pressed on. "You are strong Clarke. We'd all be dead if it wasn't for you. They'd have killed us all at the dropship. I'm not surprised they picked you out as our leader. Remember! They had Lincoln spying on us and I'm sure he wasn't the only one. They tortured Murphy and he told them everything they knew."

Bellamy had meant his words to be encouraging, bolstering, he watched aghast as the color drained from Clarke's face completely. He thought she was going to faint and leapt from his chair to catch her, but she steadied the palm of her hands against the table. When she looked down at him, now kneeling beside her chair her eyes were more haunted than he had ever seen them.

"What?" He asked searching her eyes for some clue.

"I'm okay, sit eat.' Clarke said finally.

As he sat down, she picked up her spoon and mechanically began following her own advice but he could see her mind whirring away.

Finally after she had mopped up the last of the meal with her bread she rose to move back to the chair, but then thought better. She was nearly halfway to the bed when Bellamy's arm scooped around her waist to needlessly guide her the rest of the way. He put some pillows behind her back and rolled up a blanket so she could raise her bad leg. When he was finished he sat at the bottom of her bed with her trousers in his hand. He unzipped his jacket and reached inside and pulled out a small sewing kit. He waited for her to make a witty quip about it.

"I think Lexa had Finn killed to weaken me." She said instead. Bellamy raised an eyebrow at her, clearly indicating that he thought she had reached a new level of crazy.

"No hear me out." Clarke insisted. "You said it yourself. Lexa had spies watching us. She was always getting intelligence reports when I was there. She picked me out as the leader because of the Drop Ship. She even challenged me on it the first time we met. She would have known that Finn and I were, were.." Clarke's voice faltered and cracked. "Lovers?" Bellamy supplied, keeping his face and tone neutral. Clarke nodded.

"Lexa told me about a woman named Costia who was special to her, I think they were lovers. The ice nation tortured and killed her, sent her head back to Lexa. Since then she thinks that love is a weakness that the enemy will exploit to weaken her." Clarke's eyes pleaded with Bellamy to understand what she was saying.

Bellamy nodded. That did fit what he had seen of the Commander. Sometimes she was so cold and emotionless she was almost robotic. But he knew Clarke was wrong. Lincoln had been the one to convince them that the Grounders would insist on Blood for Blood, not Lexa. Before he could contradict her, she continued her voice becoming increasingly distressed.

"We could have argued that the lives Finn took were our Blood Price for the lives they took from us!" Clarke's lips trembled as she grasped for straws, "They slaughtered us Bellamy! For what?"

Bellamy shook his head and threw Clarke's mended pants over to the chair. "You're wrong Clarke! We did everything we could to save Finn. To them we were enemies invading their soil. None of us were innocents in their eyes." His voice, which had started out sure, faltered. "Especially not after we burned down their village." Bellamy's hands raked up his face and through his hair.

Clarke watched as he hunched around himself, as if hiding within his own skin. "It wasn't your fault Bellamy, you didn't know that was going to happen." She said, thinking of the flares, the beautiful lights which had filled them all with such hope and almost sealed their doom.

"I knew that throwing the radio in the river was selfish and wrong and I chose to do it anyway Clarke." Bellamy's voice was cold. "I didn't care what happened to anyone else as long as I was okay. How many people died because of that Clarke! Good people. How many more people have I killed." He turned to look at her, his eyes burning into her own like the fires of hell. "It should have been me you killed, not Finn."

Clarke's heart stopped, as she relived the moment she had pushed the blade into Finn's heart. A little resistance and then it had moved almost on its own. She remembered the warmth of his blood gushing over her hand as his body went limp in her arms. Sometimes in her nightmares he thanked her, but only sometimes. A lump formed in her throat. In that moment on the bed with Bellamy she knew that if she could choose between them she would still let Finn die. She didn't know why but the thought of losing Bellamy of him dying was physically painful. She couldn't face that again, not again.

"I don't want you to die." She said weakly, her voice not conveying her meaning at all. Bellamy smiled at her wanly.

"That's why I need to get Octavia back. She's the one good thing I've ever done in my life. I need to protect her from the Commander. I need your help Clarke." The desperate edge in Bellamy's voice pulled at Clarke's heart.

"I can't help you. I don't know what to do!" Her voice was flat, defeated. So unlike herself to Bellamy's ears. She pulled her good leg up to her chest and hugged it.

"Start by telling me everything you know about her, who her generals are, any weaknesses. Anything!" Bellamy's voice pleaded. How could she refuse.

They talked into the night. Bellamy wrote down all tactical information Clarke could supply while she produced sketches of the people she could remember and maps she'd seen. It felt good to be busy again, to be useful. Bellamy moved to sit next to Clarke as she described the people she was drawing. Their shoulders brushing easily against each other. As his long legs stretched out next to hers. It was hard to imagine now the distance that used to be between them. Hard to remember why they had ever fought at all.

It was while she was explaining what little she knew of the Grounder barter system that Clarke realized that the scratching of Bellamy's pencil had stopped. His breathing had changed to the deep slow rhythm of sleep. Adjusting herself so that she had a better of view of his face Clarke picked up a new piece of paper and began to draw. Her eyes lingering on every curve and plane, on the furrow of his brow, even in sleep, on the deep cleft in his chin and the soft fullness of his lips. Drawing him was a balm to her soul. It soothed her mind and allowed her thoughts to roam freely. It was as she was concentrating on the shape of his jaw that she realized what she had to do.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 "This".

Bellamy woke with Clarke's head resting against his chest, her hair tickling his nose. He would have stayed, enjoying the sensation of being this closer longer, but he desperately needed to use the bathroom. He gently moved her arm which rested heavily across his stomach increasing the urgency in his bladder. In response she rolled over onto her side facing the wall. She had left a wet patch on his shirt where she had dribbled in her sleep. He didn't mind.

He headed into the small stark bathroom. As his water flowed into the bowl Bellamy couldn't help wondering how this system was supposed to work. Where exactly was it all going. Clarke was still asleep when he finished, her back to him, blonde hair falling over her shoulders onto the pillow, and the curve of her spine accentuating her waist and hips. For a brief moment the memory of her lying naked like that in their bed on the Ark flashed into his mind and he felt himself become aroused. But that had just been a dream, a weird disturbing dream. He shook his head and wandered over to the shelf with the bunker manual on it.

He sat on the chair and unlatched it. Inside were pages so thin that at first he took if for a single piece of black plastic, but as his finger hovered over it a single wafer thin page lept up to meet it. Only then could he see that each transparent page was covered in black text. It was still too jumbled with the text behind it until he squeezed the page between finger and thumb and it suddenly became opaque and the text popped from the page. Awe was the only word for what Bellamy was feeling. This manual could hold an encyclopedias worth of knowledge in a single binder. He was looking at the instructions for using it. The index alone was ten pages long. On the bed Clarke moaned, her breathing becoming more labored. Bellamy glanced at her before going back to his reading.

Finn runs towards Bellamy yelling his fists flying as he lands on the grounder, no as he lands on Bellamy. She screams at them to stop! To run. The bald grounder with the evil blade slashes at Bellamy's neck, but Finn grabs his arm giving Bellamy time to dodge. Then Finn smashes Bellamy in the face with his own fist. The grounder rises and slashes wildly at Finn's legs but Bellamy kicks the grounder in the gut before grinding his boot into the back of Finn's knee. Blood rushes through Clarke's ears as the rocket's engines roar into life. People yell at her imploringly ,now - now! The heavy leaver clunks closed in her hand and as the ship takes off a ring of fire disintegrates everyone below. She watches as Finn and Bellamy, still mid fight burst into flames and become embers that explode apart on the shock wave. Far below now, somehow still alive in the center of that circle of death Murphy has fallen to his knees arms stretched to sky in supplication. "It had to be done." A voice whispers in her ear.

Tears stream down her face as she walks up the slope. She knows what is waiting for her at the top. He is there, tied to the stake. The blade in her hand is heavy and drags her hand towards to center of the earth. She tries to stop, to turn, to run away, but her legs keep on moving up. Behind the stake fires are burning. She feels their heat beating against her skin, but her core is cold. His skin is warm as she reaches for his face with trembling finger tips, her thumb caressing his mouth one last time. The kiss is so sweet, it promises so much, but delivers nothing but death. "Thank you Princess." A voice whispers in her ear.

There is fire everywhere, people are screaming, dying. A horse aflame gallops at her.

She's standing at an easel inside the Mountain, wearing mountain clothes. She pauses with a wet paintbrush in her hand considering the landscape with trees and a lone figure in the middle. Dante is beside her, complimenting her, telling her how much she belongs here. How valuable she could be to them. But Well's doesn't agree, he's pointing at the picture she's painting. There is something wrong with it, something wrong with the figure in the middle. Is it upside down? It's hard to concentrate and Clark squints at the picture trying to see, to really see.

Lexa strides into the room, wearing the tight leathers that bind her torso and cinch at her waist. Lexa's whole body hums with life and vibrancy as she moves, transforming the world around her. They are alone in the command tent. Lexa glances once at the painting and sniffs in disdain, then stands between it and Clarke.

"You don't belong here." Lexa says, her blue eyes holding Clarke's own captive. "Come with me to Polis, let me show you our ways. You belong with us. You belong with me." Lexa reaches between them and tugs at the pink sweater Clarke is wearing and it unravels leaving Clarke naked, exposed and still she can't take her eyes from Lexa's. "We are the same." Lexa breathes onto Clarke's lips.

"Yes." Clarke whispers as the back of Lexa's finger brushes against her cheek. Her eyes finally drop to Lexa's lips and then she is lost. Lexa's mouth hungry and urgent presses against her own, their tongues soft and sweet tasting. Desire and relief flood her body, releasing a tension she can't remember holding.

Lexa's arms are around her, holding her, safe. Then her mouth moves to Clarke's neck and her palm rises to rest against the side of her breast. Clarke arches back in their embrace giving Lexa greater access to both. The sensations rushing through her body are glorious, freeing and all other thought melts away as she clings to Lexa's strong shoulders. She gasps as the wetness of Lexa's mouth covers her nipple and then she feels herself being lifted and pressed into the rough bark of a tree as her legs wrap around Lexa's hips. A movement out of the corner of her eye catches Clarke's attention but Lexa recaptures her lips as she begins to turn her head towards it and Clarke forgets.

Her feet drop to the forest floor blanketed in the multicolored leaves of autumn. Her grounder clothes are comfortable and fit her snugly, keeping her warm against the chill in the air. Lexa fills her vision. "Tell me what you want?" Lexa demands, but her voice quivers as if she's not quite sure of what Clarke will say. "I want you Lexa, I want you." Clarke feels like she will explode if she can't touch Lexa everywhere at once now. How lucky she feels to have found her, to be found. Clarke doesn't remember why, but she knows she's been lonely, isolated and on her own for too long.

Lexa runs her thumbs across both of Clarke's erect nipples, which strain against the leather of her bodice. She can feel the wetness pooling in her pants. "I want you!" Lexa whispers her hand moving between Clarke's legs, rubbing against her. Clarke moans in pleasure. Lexa leans into kiss the arc of her blonde lover's neck again, as Clarke gazes out unseeing into the forest beyond.

Something feels wrong. Clarke shakes her head trying to clear it. What is that swaying just within her field of view? She begins to turn her head and Lexa stops her, kissing that side of her neck forcefully, sucking hard on the skin and marking her. Clarke struggles in Lexa's arms until she can see the forest beyond.

Bellamy's naked body is hanging upside down from a thick branch of the tree Lexa is pressing her against. Sat crossed legged amongst the leaves of the forest floor next to him, watching avidly has Lexa ravishes her, Dante sucks blood from a straw stuck directly into Bellamy's neck. Behind him Clarke can see the forest is full of sky people hanging from the tree's like macabre fruit, their life's blood being sucked away. An army of Grounders stand around sharpening their weapons, eyeing the people of the mountain hungrily. They turn to look at her, no at their Commander.

Clarke is pushing Lexa away from her body, pointing into the forest urgent for her lover to see for herself. Tears stream down her face to see their suffering but she knows Lexa will help her, she knows. She pulls a gun and shoots Dante in the head, he falls to the forest floor leaves puffing up around and hiding his body like smoke. Blood gushes out of Bellamy turning the earth red. He's dead, she knows he is. She runs to him anyway pressing her hand uselessly against his neck, sobbing, unable to form his name in her grief.

Lexa's face pulls away from her neck and darkens. "You should have come with me to Polis Clarke! But you had to care about THEM more." She hisses angrily, pointing at Bellamy. Clarke is still pressed against the tree, Lexa's body pressed against her own.

Dante stops drinking Bellamy's blood and rises like a venomous snake from the forest floor. He walks to Lexa a bag of silver coins held out in front of him. Lexa weighs the bag in one hand then signals. A horn blows as she turns. Clarke screams Lexa's name at her retreating back, even as Emerson strings her up onto a branch. But Lexa never looks back, the horn keeps blowing and Clarke keeps screaming thrashing against the ropes that bind her.

Clarke thrashed against the constraints that held her for a moment longer before the warmth of his embrace and the overwhelming smell that was Bellamy Blake filled her senses enough to break her from the horror of her dream. She didn't pull away, but buried her face deeper into the heat of his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist, the taste of salt on her lips. He smelled good. Alive. He felt good. He could make her feel good too, she knew he could. The dream faded as new, more welcome, more urgent needs washed over her.

Her fingertips crept under the edge of his shirt and travelled up his back. She felt him stiffen and pull himself up as her hands reached his shoulders, pulling her up with him. His eyes were dark pools of lust as she held their gaze. He dipped his chin, mouth open and she rose to meet his lips with her own. They grazed the soft under skin of his jaw as he looked up, but the gasp that escaped him and the way his hands tightened where they had fallen to her hips encouraged her on. He tasted of salt and sweat and home as her tongue and lips rasped up to his ear and she moved to straddle his thighs. Her fingers traced the muscles of his chest and abdomen as they flittered down to his belt.

He stiffened again. His hands on her bare skin holding her still, telling her to stop, as she tried to roll against his groin. His face shot down to look at her his expression furrowed and serious. God she loved his rare smiles, but the intensity of his look now bore into her core intensifying her need for him. She needed him. "Stop!" The words coming from his mouth made no sense, she knew he could feel this too. She could feel, literally feel his desire growing. Her hands reached for his buckle again and he let go of her hips to grab them. This was no fun. But the lust was still there in his eyes, flickering in the steady candle light. "Touch me!" She demanded, her eyes defiant. She watched the flicker of hesitation as it crossed his face, saw his eyes drop to her lips, she leaned into him, pressing her chest against his own, dragging her erect nipples across the fabric of both their shirts. She shuddered at the feel of him hard beneath her. "No!" his voice whispered hoarse and unsure, but then he was pushing her away and rising off the bed.

Bellamy stood with his back to her, fists clenched by his sides. On the bed Clarke gasped as the sensation of aloneness crashed in on her again. What had she been thinking? Not that Bellamy Blake the camp lothario would reject her, certainly not that, she thought angrily. He turned to face her, his face still flushed, lips tight. There was an accusation in his eyes, that made her feel defensive.

"It's just sex Bellamy." She said, perplexed as his eyes grew darker still.

"I'm through being used." He said, jaw clenched

Clarke was confused and now embarrassment was creeping in and she didn't like it. She needed to find a way to diffuse this.

"I don't understand." She began but as her mind raced it came up with nothing, she really didn't understand. She waited for him to speak.

"You woke up sobbing her name. Calling out for her!" Bellamy said, indicating to his side as if Lexa were actually standing there. "Then, then.." but he couldn't finish.

Clarke gulped, had she been calling Lexa's name? The dream was already a blur. She just knew how aroused she had felt in his arms, was that really for Lexa?

"This," Bellamy said, indicating between them, his voice deep and coarse, "might not mean anything to you, but it does to me.".

Clarke felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as indignation made her skin hum. She had no idea what Bellamy's deal was but she didn't appreciate being lied to. By him most of all. It was true some cultures on the Ark had very puritanical views about sex, but she'd seen Bellamy's conquests those first few days on the ground. He'd flaunted them in front of everyone."

"Horse shit!" She exclaimed, standing up and getting into his personal space. "Since when does sex mean anything other than a good time to you? Look if you don't find me as attractive as Raven or the others fine! If you don't want to have sex with me fine! But you don't have to be a jerk about it." She pressed her finger into his chest as if to drive her point home.

Bellamy looked down at it. "Are you through?" He asked, his voice perfectly level. Which was infuriating to her. "I have standards Clarke, and they include not having sex with someone who was just moaning someone elses name in their sleep."

Clarke thought about bringing up Raven's revenge shag again, but the fight had gone out of her. She no longer cared about why Bellamy Blake didn't want to have sex with her, and quite frankly if he was the last person on the planet she wouldn't have sex with him either. What had she been thinking? She just stood there glaring at him waiting for his next move in this bizarre game he was playing.

"Were you sleeping with her while I was in the Mountain" He asked finally breaking the cold silence that had begun to fill the air between them. Clarke was startled by the softness in his voice. It didn't match the fire in his eyes. Her first instinct was to tell him to mind his own business but her confusion must have been written all over her face because he continued, "O said..." and he shrugged, as if he had to ask.

Everything always came back to Octavia with Bellamy. He'd do anything to save her, ask anything. Understanding Commander Lexa was his business now. Clarke shook her head, no. Bellamy visibly relaxed in front of her. He was behaving so oddly.

"We kissed, that's all.' She said moving over to the chair to retrieve her mended pants. She stopped to inspect the expertly done repair, then pulled them on quickly and turned to face him. He had stopped to pick up the drawings from the night before, she rushed to grab them out of his hand before he found his portrait. She wasn't ready for his to see that yet, it wasn't finished.

"It must have been some kiss?" He said, raising his eyebrow at her as he stood again.

Clarke gulped as she thought about the unexpected pressure of Lexa's mouth on her own. It had taken her a moment before she had responded, but she had. Her body surprising her with the sudden desire that had risen between them. But then the memory of Finn had broken the spell.

"It was." She said simply, blushing as she shuffled the papers into order. Then her voice cracked as she continued, "But I told her it was too soon, that I wasn't ready." She paused for a moment then added. "I really thought she cared about me too."

Bellamy harrumphed, and she shot him a dark challenging look. His face had an unwelcome sneer she hadn't seen since the early days. "Did she betray us before or after our Princess rejected her advances?"

Clarke had had enough. "She wasn't like that! She made a tactical decision that she thought was best for her people. Her feelings about me didn't matter. " She was sure they hadn't.

"How can you say that. It was a coward's decision, her people think so too. She had to have some other reason for doing it, like being rejected. It's the only thing that makes sense" His eyes accused as he spoke.

"You're wrong what she wanted for herself didn't matter. She wasn't that weak." Clarke spat, even as she couldn't believe she was wasting her breath defending the woman who had abandoned her to die.

Bellamy cocked his head, unimpressed at the word weak. His face said that he couldn't believe what is was hearing. "The old love is weakness thing again?" He asked his voice hard and mocking. "So why didn't she take you with her?"

Clarke stopped. She could feel the heat rising in her face. Why did he have to be the one person who could make her this angry. She fought to control her voice. "She tried to. She asked me to abandon you all and go to Polis." But inside Clarke wasn't so sure, had that been before or after the betrayal?

This made Bellamy blink. Brought him back into this moment. Why was he arguing with her about this? Clarke could have left them all in the Mountain to die, but she didn't, she never would. He looked away. When his eyes met hers again the apology was written all over them. He'd been attacking her, when it was really Lexa he wanted to fight. He thought for a moment before replying. "I'm glad you stayed."

Something tickled his brain something that hadn't made sense until now maybe. "Indra didn't mention you in her message. The commander isn't hunting you like she is Octavia. At least I don't think so."

Clarke was clearly shocked. "Then why did you risk everything to come here in this weather?" Clarke asked her voice unsure her eyes searching his.

"Because I thought you were in danger." Bellamy began, then stopped. "Because I needed your help." He paused for a moment lowering his eyes before capturing hers with his own. "I needed you." His voice was thick and his eyes glistened with unshed tears.

She needed him too she realized. Whatever was going on between them, the world made more sense when they were working together. Together. A light went off in Clarke's brain and suddenly she thought she knew what Bellamy had meant earlier when he had said, "this". She reached for his hand, her fingertips tingling where they brushed his. His eyes dropped to them and she watched his face as he watched their hands joining, palm to palm. She waited for his eyes to find her own again before whispering, for just the two of them to hear, "I needed you too."

Loud clangs rang through the hatch making both of them jump, followed by a muffled yell. "Anyone down there?" They recognized that voice. Bellamy looked at Clarke for a moment and she smiled. "I am coming with you." She reassured him confidently. "I - have a plan!" Relief flooded Bellamy's system. He was back working with Clarke, she had a plan, and he was pretty sure Nathan Miller had just "rescued" them.


	19. Chapter 19

Once the hatch was open Nathan jumped down to the floor nimbly. First he grabbed Bellamy in a quick hug and then Clarke followed by Bellamy again. This time in a deeper hug with an almost painful squeeze at the end. "It's Bellamy and Clarke!" He yelled up. More boots hit the rungs as Sinclair began to climb down.

"How did you find us?" Bellamy asked as Sinclair hit the floor and David Miller's face peered into the hatch above before disappearing. Sinclair looked around the bunker for a moment and then walked to the farthest wall.

"We saw the rope when we were tracking up the river looking for your body!" Miller said stabbing Bellamy in the chest with his finger. Before Bellamy could ask Miller continued. "We found Ben strapped into that makeshift raft thing. It kept him afloat." Then his face had clouded over and he put his hand on Bellamy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, the others didn't make it."

Disbelief and elation filled Bellamy at the same time. He was sure Miller was confused by the broad smile that was threatening to stretch across his face. Everyone had plummeted to their death when the rope snapped but now.. "Ben's Alive! How?" Bellamy asked. He couldn't believe it.

A low whirring noise filled the room as panels in the ceiling filled the room with a pale cold light. Bellamy and Clarke whirled to face Sinclair, who had opened a panel in the wall and pulled a lever, springing the room into life. He closed the panel and turned to them smiling. "This is a TK3000." He said, as if they should know what it meant. Everyone looked at him blankly. Not for the first time that day Sinclair wished Raven had been well enough to come with them. Maybe he should have overruled Jackson and let her come anyway. But no, he shook his head before telling them "This is the ultimate bug out module. They became very popular with Doomsdayers in the last few decades before the war. This thing was built to last for centuries."

Miller wasn't convinced. "I'd go crazy within a few weeks in a space this small, the mountain was bad enough." He said, looking around. His eyes falling onto the single messed up bed and automatically giving Bellamy a "Score Bro" Look before he could stop himself.

Bellamy had to agree, even with just himself and Clarke the place had been too small, he couldn't imagine if they'd tried to raise kids in here too. That thought pulled him up short, he was done with kids, but he looked at Clarke sideways. He was pretty sure she could talk anyone into anything.

Sinclair touched another panel back near the ladder, one that looked identical to all the others but a creaking noise filled the room and they had to jump back as the floor beneath them opened into a spiral staircase. "This is just the lobby, a decoy if you will." Sinclair declared heading down the stairs.

He was stopped by Bellamy who grabbed his arm angrily. "If there are people down there you just killed them all." Sinclair glared at Bellamy and shook his arm free easily. There was a steel beneath the quiet engineer that Bellamy hadn't expected to find in one of the privileged. But then his idea of who they were had changed so much since he hit the ground he wasn't really that surprised anymore. Had things really changed so much, or had they always been this way.

Clarke and Bellamy followed Sinclair down. Below there was a brightly lit lobby. With a door and intercom at one end. It was very surreal. Sinclair pressed the buzzer. There was no response. He tried the door but it was locked.

"Can you open it?" Clarke asked her mind clearly whirring with the possibilities of what might lie behind it.

Sinclair shook his head. "Not right now. Like Bellamy said we need to make sure there is no one in there first. We can leave guards. But right now the priority is to get you two back to Camp Jaha.

Clarke looked back at the door several times as they ascended the spiral. Bellamy thought he understood why. This could be their second chance. A chance to make allies, to find people who were more like them than the Grounders. But the door was stark and uninviting and the whole idea that there had been people below them the entire time, maybe even watching them gave him the heebee jeebees.

They packed quickly and he was glad to finally leave the bunker behind and step into the crisp cold daylight. Sinclair returned the bunker to it's decoy configuration and they sealed the hatch behind them hiding their location as best they could. Miller senior was on the radio by the tree as they approached him, with Nathan bringing up the rear. Once he had finished talking he untied the rope and started hauling it to the top.

"The mobile unit will meet us at the Drop Ship." He informed Sinclair, hoisting the rope over his shoulder. Sinclair nodded looking up at the clear blue sky.

Clarke's eyes raced to Bellamy's in question, but he wasn't surprised. Asserting ground superiority had been a priority when he left. To do that they needed to get the vehicles and the weapons they could carry operational. Nathan Miller took point as they headed out, gun poised, looking less like a delinquent and more like a professional soldier, until he looked backed at them and grinned his crooked smile. Bellamy watched Clarke smile back, it felt good to see them so relaxed and happy. He would try to cling to moments like these when his demons plagued his sleep. He hoped Clarke could learn to do the same.

Mr Miller fell into step between them for several strides before speaking. "Thank you for getting my son out." He said simply, but his voice was thick with emotion. He kept his eyes forward watching his son's back. Clarke and Bellamy shared a glance across him, and then he moved forward to walk with his son, scanning the tree's for danger. "Look up too." They heard Nathan advise his dad, who followed his lead. The world around them squelched as melt water continued to drip into the undergrowth. Their boots leaving tracks that would be easy to follow, but for now they had the forest to themselves.

It was always hard for Bellamy to return to the Drop Ship, a place that for a brief crazy moment in time had felt more like home than any other place ever had. He braced himself for the sight of the burnt skeletons, some of them his own friends, but they were gone. When had that happened? The rest of the site looked untouched. It was eerily like a ghost town.

Clarke gasped as they rounded the barricade. Bellamy had known what to expect but he was still impressed. The mobile unit was a lightly armored truck with large wheels. Small enough to weave it's way through the trees but big enough to carry a nasty looking gun on the top. It looked even more formidable out here than it had done parked in the underground bunker.

Sinclair grinned and leaned in as he saw Bellamy eyeing it. He whispered gleefully. "We haven't found any ammo for the gun yet, but for now it seems to be scaring the Grounders away." Bellamy looked sideways at the engineer. He was having way too much fun with his new toys but his enthusiasm and maybe, was it optimism, was infectious.

"How is Raven?" Bellamy asked, as she popped into his head.

Sinclair shook his head once, "She'll be glad to see you, and Clarke I think. News of Wick's death it her hard." He paused for a moment as if considering something. "Did you know?" He asked, eyebrow raised quizzically. Bellamy nodded, anyone who had watched Wick carry Raven knew.

That trek back from the Mountain had been a hard slog with so many injured. They'd taken turns carrying stretchers, but in the end they didn't have enough. Raven ever too independent insisted she didn't need one, but she couldn't walk more than a couple of steps without sweat pouring from her body and the blood draining from her face. When she had passed out Bellamy hoiked her over his shoulder and carried her fireman style. But when she woke up she always wanted Wick and he always carried her in his arms, her face buried in the crook of his neck, breathing through her pain. Taking turns between them, that was how they'd got Raven back to camp.

"Let's go home" Sinclair declared swinging open the heavy door at the back. Nathan and Sinclair climbed into the dark opening with Clarke and Bellamy. The jerk as the engine shuddered into life took Clarke by surprise and she grabbed hold of the bench she sat on to steady herself. Bellamy's eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light of the interior, lit only by a narrow horizontal window on each side. He shot her a reassuring glance and resisted the urge to sit next to her. Later as the gates to Camp Jaha swung open to receive them he regretted it. The color had drained from her face and she had clutched at her seat so hard her knuckles had turned white as bone.

The camp was virtually deserted of civilians but guards dotted the wall every hundred meters or so. They drove up to the main structure. "Get as close as you can." Clarke commanded. "I want to try to get inside without anyone seeing me." Sinclair raised his eyebrow at her but nodded when the driver looked to him for confirmation. Then he swung the vehicle around and drove to the rear where a large opening in the wreckage allowed him to drive the van completely inside what had once been a cargo bay, it's contents lost to space or the atmosphere on descent.

He scrambled quickly out of the Van after Miller so that he could turn to offer Clarke his hand, but she was already at the door and leapt out after him. She looked around, her face determined. He could almost see the cogs in her mind whirring. She turned to Sinclair as he followed her. "How many of these do you have working." She asked.

He looked at her quizzically as if trying to work her out. Their paths hadn't crossed much on the Ark, he didn't have much to do with medicine. In truth he wasn't very good with the sight of blood or illness. Given the option he would always assign someone else to repairs in the medical bay. "How many do you need?" He said finally.

"Two, I think." she said. "But first I need to speak with my mom. You too!." She said to Sinclair.

"Radio's this way." He said and Clarke fell in step beside him. "Kane was acting chancellor when I left, but I've no idea who will be in charge when we get back, we've had some visitors." Clarke nodded absently as if she wasn't really listening.

Half way across the floor she turned to Bellamy and Miller who were stood by the van watching them leave. "I'll see you later, I've just got some details to sort out." Then she was gone, walking quickly out of earshot.

Miller who had been watching Bellamy punched him in the arm playfully. "What was that about?"

"She's got a plan for keeping Octavia safe from the Grounders." Bellamy said, still watching the sway of her steps as she left deep in animated conversation with Sinclair.

"That's not what I meant." Miller began, but in response to Bellamy's blank I have no idea what you're talking about face he just threw his hands in the air. "None of my business. Come on I'll take you to Ben."

Bellamy followed. He didn't know how he was going to face the man he had tried to cut loose to fall to his death. The man who's best friend he had killed. Guilt churned beneath his skin, but he would not run from this even if he could. He owed Ben that much. He owed him more.

The large man filled his bed completely. His head and face were a swathe of bandages. His arms hidden beneath the bedding. In his mouth there was a tube helping him breath. When Bellamy had arrived at the Medical Bay Jackson had still been there checking Ben's dressings and hanging the fluids that were keeping him alive. The shock on his face when Bellamy had walked through the room was priceless. Obviously no one had told him that he was alive. Sinclair told them that Ben was in an induced coma and that they had stabilized him enough for transport to the mountain. That would happen later today.

Jackson rushed away after briefing them. He wanted to make sure Abby knew that Clarke was safe. Watching Ben silently, listening to the rhythmic noises of the machines, Bellamy wondered where Octavia was. He trusted Lincoln to keep her safe, but even Lincoln hadn't seen that the coming storm would be as severe as it became.

When Jackson returned his face lighter than before but it darkened when Bellamy asked to be shown the bodies of his friends. Miller had placed his hand on his shoulder then and told him that he didn't have to do that, but Bellamy needed to see them. Miller just nodded and walked beside him as Jackson led them into an anteroom further down the corridor.

The icy blast of air as he walked through the door made his skin prickle. Four bodies were laid out on tables, each covered in a grey cloth. Jackson walked over to the closest of the tables and began to pull back the fabric.

"Wait!" Bellamy said his voice panicked. "Did you.. Did you perform a… I mean are they…"

Jackson understood his discomfort immediately. His voice was low and reassuring. "You don't have to do this Bellamy. No I didn't do an autopsy. Cause of death was pretty evident and besides we really don't have the resources or the time for that right now." He watched has Bellamy's adam's apple bobbed up and down. "Do you want me to stop?" Bellamy shook his head and Jackson pulled the cover back.

Montgomery Green Senior looked pale and peaceful. This was not the horror of violent death that Bellamy had come to know and expect. His friend almost looked like he was sleeping. Almost.

"Did he drown?" Bellamy asked dragging his eyes away from the man's face and looking up at Jackson. His eyes stung and watered from the cold air in the room.

The young doctor shook his head and indicated to Mr Monty's head without moving it. "There was massive trauma. His head hit something hard like a rock. He was dead before he entered the water. It was probably instantaneous."

Bellamy nodded thinking of the overhang Clarke and he had climbed around. He wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall with the back of his hand.

"Did he have anything on him, a wallet? It has a photo of his family?" Bellamy asked, his throat felt closed and forcing the words out was difficult.

Jackson nodded. "We've got his personal stuff boxed up to give to his son. There was a letter from his mother in there too."

Bellamy gulped. "I'd like to give it to his son personally please?" Bellamy asked. "If that's okay?"

Jackson looked uncomfortable, he glanced between Miller and Bellamy. "I'm sorry I can't do that. This is my job. When people die I look after them, I make sure they're okay and I.." He paused as if trying to find the right words, ".. it is important to me that I make sure their personal belongings make it into the hands of their loved ones." Jackson shifted in his stance clearly uncomfortable but not willing to back down.

"Just make sure they do!" Bellamy said, his voice gruffer than he intended.

"Do you want to see Sergeant Ben now?" Jackson asked changing the subject and moving over to another table.

Bellamy nodded, but Miller grabbed his arm. "You don't have to do this. You don't have to see him like this"

Bellamy just looked at him. "Yes I do."

Jackson lifted the white cloth keeping his eyes on Bellamy.

Bellamy fell forward onto his knees once more and retched, but nothing else remained. He sat back and leaned against the cold metal walls of the Ark. It burned painfully into his back. He should have listened to Miller. Bellamy wished he could picture Bill in his head as he had been alive, but all he could see was the mangle of a human flesh that lay on the slab. They had found his body still clutching on to Ben by the banks of the icy cold river, protecting this friend even in death. There were deep gashes on his arms and back where he'd slammed into jagged rocks. But there was no doubt he'd been alive long enough to push both of them to shore. He'd used the last of the heat in his body to keep his friend warm and even after death he'd provide a distraction for the bear that Miller's shotgun had chased away when they'd found the bodies.

He heard footsteps heading his way and scrubbed the tears that had yet to fall with the back of his hand. Sinclair stood before him silhouetted in the afternoon sun. "Come on it's time to get going." His voice was matter of fact and he held out his hand to Bellamy, helping him rise.

"Where?" Bellamy asked.

"Back to our new home." He said nodding slightly in the direction of the mountain.

A panic took over Bellamy as he looked up at the small group gathered near the truck. Clarke was not there. "She's inside." Sinclair said as if reading his mind.

Bellamy followed him to what was actually a small convoy of trucks. When he opened the door and Clarke wasn't there he looked at Sinclair in confusion. "She's in the ambulance with Ben and Jackson." Sinclair said, gently shoving the reluctant Bellamy into the back of the truck to sit shoulder to shoulder with Miller.

The journey was uneventful, if somewhat bumpy. Bellamy didn't see how or where they got back into the mountain he was just aware of the sudden blackness outside as the mountain swallowed them. Miller was discussing rotations with one of the other guards but Bellamy zoned it out. He'd left the Mountain with six people now most of them were dead. Some leader he was going to be.

The corridors of Mt Weather teamed with life as Bellamy made his way through it towards Raven's quarters. He'd left Clarke in the infirmary with her mother. Their re-union was painful to watch. The thank you her mother had mouthed at him over her daughter's shoulder had felt like a dagger in his gut. Everywhere around him people bustled, busy making a new life for themselves here in the grave of the Mountain Men. His pace quickened, but he stopped himself from running. When Raven opened her door, he practically threw himself in and slammed the it closed.

Raven's clear brown eyes looked up at him in concern. She stood before him leaning heavily on a pair of crutches, again. As he stared at her face her eyes moistened and a tear escaped towards her trembling lips. His hand moved instinctively to brush it away, but her own fingers got there first, and then they moved to his face and wiped away the tears that were flowing down his own cheeks. "I'm so sorry.' He whispered.

And then they were wrapped in eachothers arms shaking and crying. He slid down the door in and she fell with him. They stayed that way for a time, even after the tears had stopped and their breathing had returned to normal. "Help me to the chair." Raven asked after a while, so Bellamy picked them both up and carried her over to a large three seater with soft cushions. Then he went back for her crutches and sat down next to her. They both stared at the blank TV for several minutes. "I have something for you." He said reaching into his pocket for the necklace. Raven held out her hand as he dropped the chain gently into her palm.

"I'm so sorry." Bellamy began again, gulping, but he was cut short by Raven who had her finger raised at him in warning, her blotchy face stern and brooking no nonsense. He couldn't help but half smile as she scolded him, "Don't start that again!" He nodded in compliance and waited while Raven rolled the chain between her fingers quiety.

Raven's quarters were larger than the ones he had found on the first night back. There were two bedrooms off the main living area that he could see. Raven watched his gaze as it took in the belongings of the dead family who had lived there. Children's toys sat on the shelves and through the open door he could see a crib in one of the rooms. His hands found his face, and Raven's palm found his back and began to trace soothing circles. "You tried to find another way Bellamy. I know you! I know you tried." His eyes raised to Raven's once again and he could see the trust in them.

She bit her lip briefly, hesitating. "Did he suffer? Was it quick?" Bellamy's mind flashed back to the moment at the table. The violence of Wick's reaction as he vomited up blood, the fear in his eyes as he fell. "It was quick." he said. "It was quick." Raven nodded. Raven rose from the chair, grabbing her crutches and headed to the bathroom. "Be right back." She said over her shoulder as she moved.

A knocking sound woke Bellamy. He'd fallen asleep and at some point Raven had placed a blanket over him. He looked around for her. At first he was alone, but then he heard her coughing in the bathroom. "Get that for me!" She yelled at him through the closed door.

Nathan stood there, at first surprised to see Bellamy, then walking in and looking around for Raven. "You ready?" He asked as Raven emerged from the bathroom. She had changed, done something with her hair. She looked nice. 'Yes, let's go." She said, then turning to Bellamy. "It's the big commemoration service tonight. For the Mountain Men." As Bellamy watched her limping out of the door, head held high, he was struck again by how strong she was. He knew the physical and emotional pain she was hiding, but the world never would.

The service was a solemn affair led by Marcus Kane. As he spoke Bellamy was reminded of his mother who had led many ceremonies herself on the ark. They stood in a opened up storage area. Someone had found a list of of all the people who had lived in the Mountain. Special thanks was given to all the people within the mountain who had helped save the forty eight. Nathan Miller stepped forward to say a few words about the delinquents who had died under the drill. As he spoke about Fox Bellamy could still feel her arms around him when he'd rescued her. She'd clung to him, and he'd clung to her too after a moment. Rage rose within him. Each of the captives was invited to light a candle on a metal tree to honor those who'd help keep them safe by hiding them. Miller went up first. He spoke for a few moments about the couple who'd hidden him. A few other who'd been hidden with him came up and lit their candles too. That's how it went for a while with little groups and individuals sharing the stories of the heroes who kept them safe. Know one had spoken about Maya and Jasper never came forward, Bellamy scanned the crowd, but he wasn't there. Monty was standing next to Harper, his face was tight and emotional. Across the crowded room Bellamy tried to catch his eye, but he never looked at him. Harper did once, and she shook her head just slightly. Bellamy felt like a heel. He should have gone to Monty straight after he spoke to Raven.

No one had still mentioned Maya yet. Jasper must not have come. He had just resolved to go up and speak for her when he felt a soft hand on his arm. Clarke looked up at him, her soft blonde curls glowing in the candlelight, her blue eyes glistening with the emotion only betrayed by the flush of her cheeks. "Together." She said, as if she had been reading his mind.

With her hand still on his arm they walked to the front, all eyes were upon them. Clarke took a long look at the wall of names that had been created. Bellamy felt her nails bite into his arm even through his jacket. They turned to face the gathered crowd. Both their faces were wet by the time they'd finished talking about the selfless young woman who had really been the salvation of them all. Without Maya or her dad none of them would be here. The air was still when they finished as if everyone was holding their breath, not wanting to be the first to break the spell that had descended on them. A loud wail filled the air and everyone's head turned as one. Norm and Ginger were stood near the front holding baby Maya who had chosen this moment to exercise her lungs. Monty leaned over to shush her gently, his face visibly softening.

Chancellor Griffin had moved to stand next to them at the front. She was leaning heavily on one crutch as she walked. She thanked everyone for their memories and then spoke a few words in closing and then the service was over.

Monty was bouncing Maya in his arms and chatting with Norm and Ginger as he left. Bellamy tried to follow but Harper stopped in front of him barring his path. "Not now Bellamy!" She said with a fierceness that Bellamy hadn't seen in her before. Bellamy looked over her shoulder at the dispersing crowd, but Monty was gone. He didn't need to ask her why, it was written in her eyes. "He blames me." Bellamy gulped out. She nodded once and placed a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry." She said and then turned as if to leave as well, but she stopped and flung her arms around his shoulders pulling him into a quick squeezing hug. The ground had made her strong. She kissed him briefly on the check and then said with tears in her eyes. "Thank you. I'm so sorry." Then she did turn and leave.

Bellamy stood still as departing crowd swirled around him. He couldn't cry not here. Not now. This wasn't his pain, it belonged to Monty. He didn't have the right to feel it. Monty was right it was his fault.

"It wasn't your fault" Clarke said beside him. He turned to look down at her, she cleaned up nice. It was distracting.

"Yes it was." He said and looked away. But she tugged on his sleeve.

"Hey! You didn't cause that storm." She insisted.

He shook his head not looking at her. "We should have gone straight back to the Mountain. If we had Monty's dad would still be alive and you would still be safe in the bunker"

Clarke let her hand fall from his sleeve.

He looked down at her then, cupping her cheek gently with his hand. "Clarke I.."

They were interrupted by her mother stepping up to her daughter and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Clarke I got Kane to agree to your idea in principle, will you be ready to present your idea before the council this afternoon." Clarke nodded. "Good, Sinclair is expecting you now in the garage" The Chancellor continued. "Come find my in the infirmary at 16:00 when you are done and we will go in together."

Then she turned to Bellamy. "You're coming with me Bellamy Blake, I need to debrief you and we have important council matters to discuss before the meeting." Then she turned and began to hobble away as quickly as her crutch would allow. Which was pretty quick. She looked over her shoulder after a few paces, "Well? Come on!"

Clarke squeezed his hand. "We'll talk later." She said, before heading in the opposite direction towards the garage.

Bellamy caught up with the Chancellor quickly and walked next to her in silence for a few minutes. "Have I done something wrong?" He asked finally, but Abby Griffin just looked at him and said, "It can wait till we get to my office."

Her office was the one the President had used. Bellamy took a seat as directed on the other side of the desk and watched as the Chancellor eased herself down into the big chair. She steepled her fingers as she looked at him across the desk.

"I understand you spent last night in Raven Reye's quarters." She half asked, but it was not a question.

Bellamy nodded.

"Then I presume you two had a chance to talk about everything." She said, but her tone confused him. It was almost like an accusation.

He spoke warily. "I returned Wick's necklace to her. I thought she'd want it."

The Chancellor looked at him blankly. "Why would Raven want his necklace?" Then the penny seemed to drop. "Oh!" She said, leaning back in her chair as if to give herself some space. "I didn't know. So did you two talk about anything else while you were there?" She asked.

Bellamy shook his head, bristling at all the questions but wanting to know where this path was leading.

She looked at him for a moment as if considering. Then when she spoke she picked her words carefully.

"Bellamy, tell me what you know about Octavia's conception?"

He looked at the Chancellor shocked. Never in a million years would he have thought their conversation was headed in this direction. Suddenly he was very nervous for his little sister.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Bellamy had gone topside to think. The air was cold, but it was clean and right now he needed to clear his head. He found himself sitting on the rock next to were some fresh flowers laid in a circle upon the grave, Jasper, Bellamy sun was low on the horizon and the council meeting would be starting soon. He should be going.

It was Miller senior who eventually came to find him. He'd been guarding the door when Bellamy left, so knew exactly where to find him when the search request went out.

" A lot on your mind?" He asked as he approached. "The council is expecting you."

Bellamy rose stiffly, and checked his holster out of habit. He looked up at the older man. "Did you know that the implant could fail?" He asked. But Miller's blank expression was all the answer he needed, the older man had no idea what he was talking about.

The council were in animated conversation when he entered. A discussion about not be able to spare the resources or the personnel. An opinion that the mission was too dangerous and unlikely to succeed. In the center stood Clarke, her expression broke into a smile of relief as she saw him.

"What's going on?" Bellamy asked.

Clarke walked upto him and he instantly recognized her I've got a plan but you're not going to like it face.

"I want to take a medical squad out with the Rover to treat the Grounders, and to find Luna and her people." Clarke said, as if it wasn't totally insane.

When Bellamy told her she was crazy she looked at him pleadingly, willing him to understand. In a way he did. Clarke needed a mission, away from here. She needed to be doing something useful, helping people instead of hurting them. Her plan wasn't even all crazy. It would be good propaganda. Get ahead of any rumors that The Commander might choose to spread about their true intentions in the mountain. A chance to make new allies, to find Octavia.

In the end he was out voted and the mission was given the go ahead. Once it was done he left quickly and headed back to his own room, his long legs eating up the floor. Clarke was out of breath when she finally caught up to him. He rounded on her angrily when she took his arm, not even sure why he was angry. Just looking at her made his pulse race.

"Can we talk?" She asked.

"What would be the point?" Bellamy bit off. "You're leaving again!"

"I.." Clarke began, face turning red, eyes glistening. "I thought you understood. I can't be here. I just can't."

Bellamy stepped away from her, his face full of scorn. "Do you think this is easy for me?" His voice was rough. "Everyday I walk through corridors where people died because they helped me." He gulped. "We pulled that switch and murdered Maya. We would all be dead without her, and we killed her." He took another step back.

Clarke reached out for him tentatively. "You could come, find Octavia?"

He could tell from the way hope flashed across her eyes that she'd seen how tempting that was. His jaw clenched, how to explain. "I can't." He said simply then his focus shifted to Raven hobblng around the corner.

Raven stopped up short as she saw him. The way her eyes flitted between himself and Clarke he could tell she knew that he knew. She paled and took a step back, but Bellamy had already shouldered past Clarke and was reaching for her arm. His eyes bored into her. "We need to talk." He said, his voice catching.

He didn't even look back at Clarke as he ushered her along, but Raven did. She knew she shouldn't enjoy the look of dumbfounded confusion on Clarke's face as much as she did, but she couldn't help it. As they rounded the corner she shook Bellamy off her and pushed him away.

"Alright I'm coming! Your place or mine?" She winked at him smiling, not sure why everything was so damned funny suddenly.

He looked at her like she was crazy. "Medical!' He ground out. "I want to see." Then as Raven's expression turned to steel he added "Please."

She nodded and they walked on in silence. Bellamy paused before the medical bay doors. This time Raven reached for his arm in comfort. He turned to look down into her eyes."It might not be yours you know?" She said gently. "It could still be Finn's."

He turned to look at her upturned face. She wanted it to be Finns he could tell. That would be kinder, more just, Finn had deserved to live to be a father and she loved him. But as his eyes drifted down to Raven's abdomen he knew it was just wishful thinking on her part. In order for the birth control to fail both people had to be incompatible with it, that was what made it so rare.

He didn't know if they could ever be 100% sure, maybe there were some tests that could be done, but as soon as he saw the fuzzy ill formed image on the screen he knew. It almost didn't matter if by some astronomically small chance Finn was the biological father, he and Raven were going to be parents and that was that. And that was terrifying.

After the scan he had returned to Maya's Rock as he had mentally begun calling it. It was odd to find comfort in a place that should cause him pain, but somehow he drew strength from Maya's memory. It reminded him of the value of his life, and the price that had been paid for it. He'd passed Jasper in the doorway on the way out. The malice in his eyes had made Bellamy shudder, but there was nothing he could do, no words of comfort. Facing Jaspers accusing glare was hard, he didn't have any words of comfort, wouldn't know how to say them anyway. That was Clarke's area.

It was there, under the full moon that Clarke found him. "Who told you?" he asked taking in her expression. "Raven." she supplied simply before sitting down on the ground next to him, chuckling to herself.

"What's so funny?" Bellamy asked, unable to keep a smile from reaching the corner of his mouth. Clarke's laugh was infectious.

"I was just thinking about Raven's new nickname for you, One Shot Bellamy." She laughed.

It was only then that he realized she'd been drinking, not a lot, but maybe just a little bit too much. She put her hand on his knee and patted it enthusiastically.

She was quiet for a moment then added, "It's kind of ironic don't you think? Karmic actually."

She leant back heavily against a tree and missed, landing with a thump on the ground, then sat up with a groan rubbing her head. Maybe she'd drunk a lot after all, Bellamy thought. How long had he been out here.

"Come on Clarke." Bellamy said pulling her to her feet. She clung to his arms for a moment, gripping him like she never meant to let go. Her head thrown back, long hair shining like silver in the moonlight, she looked up at him through heavy lids, her mouth open in a little O of surprise as she wobbled into his body. He'd felt it too, that jolt of electricity where they'd touched. It was like a ball of energy in his stomach that needed to be released. His lips on hers, his hands in her hair, her tongue in his mouth. He'd never wanted anyone more, Gods he needed her. But not like this, not like this.

"Come on Clarke." He repeated pulling her against his side and hooking an arm around his neck. She pushed him away and wobbled a little.

"They'll never take my mother seriously as Chancellor if I stay, you know!" She accused him with a wobbling finger. She began to giggle and her knees gave way beneath the force of her laughter.

Bellamy grabbed her again and she swayed into him. "Bellamy." She sighed into his ear, her lips grazing his skin. When he hooked his arm around her waist this time she allowed him to guide her back inside. He had no idea where her quarters were he realized, so he took her back to his.

The lights flicked on automatically as he entered and guided her towards the small sofa in what was he reflected, comparing it to Raven's rooms, definitely a bachelor pad.

He got some water from the tap and placed it on the table in front of her and sat down. Clarke just started at it.

"I can't stay." she said finally. "I can't!"

"I can't go." he replied.

"I know." She said. "That's why you're you."

Her head dropped into her hands then in defeat, her whole body slumping beneath the weight of the world. Suddenly he felt as tired as she looked.

"I'm tired" Bellamy began. "Do you want to go to bed?" he said rising holding out his hand.

She looked up at him and nodded and reaching for him to lead her through to the bed, small, but big enough for two.

He kicked off his boots and lay down next to her. Then sat up and took hers off aswell before lying on his back looking up at the ceiling. He wasn't sure if Clarke was still awake.

"Don't die out there." He told the ceiling.

She was gone when he woke, but her side of the bed was still warm and smelled of her hair. She was probably prepping for the mission. He thought about going straight after her, but it was still early and he needed to clean up. Sleeping in his clothes and lying pressed against her back all night had left him sweaty. The shower called to him and he was pleasantly surprised to find the hot water was working. Bellamy loved showers. As steam filled the cubicle his mind wandered to what Clarke made of the showers, and it was a short hop and a skip from there to imagining her joining in him in this one. He cursed himself for not waking up with her, perhaps… but no. Too soon he thought, she's not ready yet, but last night he could have sworn she was trying to tell him something.

She wasn't in the mess hall and he began to worry that she might leave without him, but the Millers who would be on escort duty were still enjoying breakfast. He thought for a moment about joining them, but Sinclair beckoned him over to his table. He wanted to talk about going back to the bunker and seeing what was down there. Bellamy half listened to Sinclair's enthusiastic musings while he watched the Millers. He'd never known his father, nor had Raven. He wanted what the Millers had for his child. Raven sat down next to Sinclair who asked how she was feeling, obviously in the know. Bellamy wondered how many other people knew. When he saw the Millers rising he took his leave of Raven and Sinclair and followed. Behind him he could hear the excitement in Raven's voice as they planned the bunker mission.

Monroe was helping load the last of the supplies and Clarke was hugging her mother goodbye as he walked into the hangar. The tunnel doors that led to the outside were already open and musty mountain air filled his nostrils.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Bellamy jested with Monroe as she walked over to give Clarke a hug.

A look of relief flashed across Clarke's face as she saw him.

"I just came to say goodbye." Monroe smiled. All cleaned up and washed she looked younger again.

Nate who had walked him behind Bellamy teased her "Nah I bet you were hoping to stow away and get out of class - nothing ever changes does it Monroe."

Monroe blushed and flashed him her best "sod off" smile at the same time and then hugged Clarke before heading out the door. Just before she left she yelled over her shoulder "Try not to get killed Miller." Then she was gone.

Miller and Bellamy exchanged a brief goodbye and then he was climbing into the front of the truck with his dad. Leaving Clarke and Bellamy alone.

"I think she has a crush on Miller." Clarke said, nodding back towards the van.

Bellamy's head swung to look back at the swinging door Monroe and the Chancellor had just used before turning to smirk back at Clarke, "I know the feeling."

"Miller? Seriously?" Clarke teased him with a raised eyebrow, turning to look at Miller and the waiting truck. Then her expression became serious.

"I wasn't sure you'd come," Clarke said quietly, "after last night."

Bellamy looked at her confused. "Of course." He replied."I missed you this morning." His voice sounded intense even in his own ears and for a moment he was afraid he'd said too much.

Clarke looked back at him her big blue eyes drawing him closer as she began, "I needed a shower." The words stalling on her lips as Bellamy reached for her, his own eyes wide and wanting.

Slowly, deliberately he stepped into her and placed a palm against her jaw, before pushing his fingers behind her ear and into her hair. Clarke's hand raised to cup his cheek, brushing her thumb against his lips. Then their eyes met and his mouth was on hers and the world around them stopped. His warmth, his strength, his love, all there laid bare for her to feel. His arms had snaked around her and Clarke's own hands had moved into his hair. Drawing him deeper, closer, holding him to her. She was overwhelmed. Then he was stepping back from her a little and at last only their eyes and hands were still connected.

Clarke looked up at him, unsure biting her lip as reality closed in on her again.

Bellamy looked as if he wanted to devour her whole.

"Just something to think about until we meet again." He said, squeezing her hands before letting them fall.

Clarke stepped closer and pulled him into a bear hug. "We will meet again!" She whispered fiercely in his ear, then she kissed him briefly on the lips once more before climbing into the back of the truck with the medic.

Miller smirked at him as he pulled away, Bellamy tried not to smirk back, as he watched the truck enter the long tunnel to the surface. He tried.

He could still feel the smile on his lips as he turned to leave. The doors swung open as he walked towards them, Monty and Jasper were walking in. Monty looked angry, had he come to say goodbye? The engine noise of the truck was fading in the background. There was a bright flash of light and pain. Bellamy dropped to his knees clutching his chest as blood gushed through his fingers. The world was spinning going dark. The ground beneath his cheek was cold and wet.

Above him Monty was holding a gun, they must be under attack he thought dimly as Monty dropped to his knees beside him.

"For my mother, my father." He hissed in Bellamy's ears.

Bellamy turned away towards the dark tunnel, he thought he could still see the lights of the truck as it sped away from him.

The end.

If you enjoyed this story please review 66K words only a few reviews. :o(


	21. Chapter 21

Did you just skip to the end to see if they were banging yet. Seriously. 60K words and you were going to skip to the end. Not that I've ever done that ...

But seriously for those who read all the chapters no I don't think that's the end the end, just the end of the beginning.

But with zero feedback despite the story being viewed nearly 1000 with many people opening it multiple times. - which is super awesome - wow, just wow. No I don't think I'll be writing the next part, even though I have ideas about how all the different factions I introduced would interact. Who would be enemies, and who would turn into friends.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.

Edit :- Okay seriously I can't do that. I thought about it and I can't. Too many unanswered questions. What happens when Clarke gets back - nudge nudge wink wink. What happens to Monty and Jasper. And what happens with Octavia and Lincoln.

One more chapter, a proper epilogue to wrap it all up, watch this space.


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